The White Picket Fences
by Queen Boadicea
Summary: What if Riley had stayed to help Buffy fight against Glory?
1. The Lower Depths

Title: The White Picket Fences

Author: Queen Boadicea

Email: This belongs to the great and powerful Joss and the usual gang of idi…uh, geniuses

Pairing: B/R; other relationships canon

Distribution: Do your worst—it can't compare to my worst ;)

Notes: Spoilers for BtVS season five, episode "Into the Woods"

thoughts

The familiar lassitude was stealing along his limbs. First there was the sharp sting from the fangs. By now he was so used to the pain, he barely felt it any more. Then came the lightheadedness from the blood loss.

_Yes._ He was floating. He was flying. For a few brief moments, Riley was transported from his surroundings. The filthy, barely-lit room, the anguish drowning his soul, the thought of the golden-haired girl whose distance tore at him daily—all of it disappeared. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest, his pulse pounding in his eardrums. It was at these exact moments, when he was so close to dying, that he knew himself to be alive again. Riley brought his head up with difficulty to glance down at the emaciated fledging gnawing on his arm.

"Harder," he whispered hoarsely. "_Harder."_ He was so caught up in his urgings that he didn't register the door opening or realize he had an unwelcome audience until he heard the small gasp. He looked up and saw her standing in the doorway.

Buffy. Buffy and Spike. The vampire stood there with a hateful smile on his mug, mouthing an obvious lie about being concerned for Riley's welfare. Buffy didn't say anything. The horrified expression on her face said it all. She just turned and flew down the stairs. By the time Riley had thrown on his shirt, she had vanished into the night.

Buffy couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. But it was true. There would be no wallowing in the river of denial for her. She'd seen him. Seen Riley half-naked while commanding some skinny dried-up vampire bitch to chew on him. It was beyond disgusting. It was obscene. She couldn't look at it for a second longer. So she did the only thing she could do.

She ran. She tore out of that vampire hellhole. She barely registered the vampire that tried intercepting her as she grabbed him and flung him into the nearest wall. She only knew she had to get out of there.

She halted at the bottom of the stairs outside the nest. Buffy felt as if her insides had been ripped out. She could barely breathe; the shock was so great.

Spike raced after her, gleefully anticipating his victory. Ever since the self-revelation that he was in love with the Slayer, he'd been waiting for an opportunity to destroy Buffy's relationship with Riley. He was certain the sight of Captain Cardboard being the snack for some vampire bint would do the trick nicely. He ran down the stairs in order to justify his actions to her. Otherwise, she just might be in the mood to stake him.

One look at her face, however, and the self-serving lies died in his throat. She looked as if her world had come to an end, as if every fine and wonderful thing she'd ever believed in had been destroyed. He had wanted to ruin Riley; he never meant to hurt Buffy. Of course, hurting her had been unavoidable but he had been hoping for rage…not grief.

"I thought you should know," he told her. The words sounded hollow even to him and the wounded expression on her face told him she wasn't impressed with his limp attempt at honesty. She ran past him without a word. She didn't even grace him with a single blow. He was left standing alone in an empty street.

What had he expected? That she'd fly from Fishboy into his arms? Well, okay, that probably wasn't on the schedule. Yet. But a little gratitude—was that so much to ask? Yeah, probably. He had never been grateful to learn when Drusilla had cheated on him and she had, often. In the depths of one of her insane bouts, Dru would forget him and go wandering off to muck about in the juices of some other demon. Sometimes she'd disappear for days at a time and attempts to find her were usually futile. Then she'd come back reeking of sexual encounters with her temporary playmates, blithely indifferent to his pain.

But that was all over. The plan to get Buffy for himself was well underway. He'd wanted to separate her from the military moron and he had succeeded.

Somehow that knowledge didn't make him feel any better about his part in the night's events.

Buffy pressed herself against her bedroom door. Thankfully, her mother and sister were still asleep. They hadn't noticed her exit or re-entry into her home. Of course, she'd spent years sneaking in and out of the house unseen and unheard. She had it down to a science.

Riley's a real expert at the sneaking game, too. Wonder just how often he's done this. The bitter thought tore at her as she stripped off her clothes. She glanced at her bed and shuddered. The last thing she wanted was to sleep in a bed she had all too recently shared with…him. But it was either that or the floor.

Buffy stretched out gingerly on the mattress and stared sightlessly out the window. In spite of the overwrought jumble of her thoughts, she eventually fell into an exhausted sleep.

Giles finished hanging the holiday sign above the cash register and peered at it critically. It featured greetings about the traditional upcoming December seasons as well as something called Gurenchar's Homecoming. He had no notion what the latter was about but Anya insisted that it was a very special time amongst her people. He wisely refrained from pointing out that humans were now her people. The ex-demon still occasionally forgot about that.

Anya, Xander and Willow were quietly discussing where to place the new shipment of goods when Buffy came storming through the Magic Box doors. "I need to find out everything I can about a vamp nest downtown," she snapped without preamble.

Giles blinked owlishly. "A nest?"

"There were people there," she continued. "It looked like they were…paying vampires to bite them."

"Who would pay to get bitten?" Willow was genuinely shocked. She couldn't imagine anyone doing such a thing. Until last night, Buffy wouldn't have believed it either. However, Anya's explanation was matter-of-fact in its bluntness.

"Oh, that's been going on for centuries. Humans hire vampires to feed off them. They get off on the rush. The vampires get cash, hot- and cold-running blood and they don't leave any corpses behind so they don't get hunted." She didn't see any reason to fuss; this kind of demon/human interaction was pretty mild by her standards.

"But still it can be terribly dangerous for humans. I mean, people can end up dying accidentally or meeting a vampire who only pretends to play by the house rules," Giles pointed out.

Buffy stared at him. How was it she was just finding out about this now? It seemed Riley wasn't the only one keeping nasty secrets from her. "You knew about this and you didn't tell me?"

Giles hastened to defend himself. "I-I haven't seen it since my Ripper days. I had no idea it was going on in Sunnydale."

"Well, it is. And I'm gonna stop it." Buffy opened the weapons trunk and began picking out items.

"Buffy," Giles protested, "even if I had known about this, I might not have told you right now. I'm not sure it's where your efforts are best spent. Perhaps you should focus on less ambiguous evil. Glory, for instance."

The Slayer wasn't going to let him off the hook. "You said people are dying. Vampires are vampires and my job description is pretty clear." She paused as she mentally rallied herself and swept the others with a determined gaze. "Back me up or not. I'm going."

Giles wavered for a moment then, after instructing Anya to stay and mind the store, got weapons with Xander and Willow.

The tension in the car was pretty high. Everyone could sense Buffy's anger but weren't aware of the cause. Giles tried pointing out that this was basically a social ill rather than true evil. It was on the level of prostitution and drug abuse in that it involved willing human victims. But his explanation petered out in the face of Buffy's iron stare.

Willing victim. That's what Riley is. He was willing. He paid some horrible demon to suck the life out of him. Why? What's wrong with him? What's wrong with me that he would turn to such creatures? Buffy couldn't stop thinking about it. Her mind had chased the questions around and around in her head during the night but all that useless introspection only left her feeling weak and sick. The only way she could get any kind of relief was by violent physical action. Destroying those vamp whores was the perfect solution.

Except the nest was deserted. Buffy looked around, ready for action, but it was clear there was none to be had. "I don't understand. This place was doing serious business last night."

"I guess everybody jumped ship once the word got out that the Slayer found their crib. I'm sure you'll get them next time, champ." Xander was attempting to lighten the mood. Like Giles and Willow, he saw these creatures as ordinary, run-of-the-mill vampires. He couldn't understand why Buffy was stressing herself over their destruction.

The blonde woman wanted to scream from frustration. She'd hoped to work off steam with a bit of good old-fashioned vamp slayage and it looked like she wasn't going to get the chance. But there had to be something she could do…

Before anybody could divine her intention, she picked up a small brazier that lay on the floor and hurled it at the nearest wall. In seconds, the whole side of the room was in flames. The others gave each other worried looks and followed her out in silence.

Spike couldn't really muster any surprise when Riley slammed open the door of his crypt. A visit from either one brassed-off Slayer or Fishboy was rather predictable. He didn't bother to get up from where he was sprawled in his chair. "What took you? Takes a while to get to full strength after bites…"

Riley didn't grace him with a reply. He just grabbed Spike by his black T-shirt and threw him up against a nearby pillar.

Shit! That hurt! The boy was seriously pissed and, while Spike didn't usually fear humans, his chip meant there wasn't any way he could retaliate against Riley. "Hey, hey, let's be reasonable about this!"

Riley slugged him hard in the jaw. "You may have noticed, Spike, I left reasonable about 30 exits back."

There was a vicious gleam in his eye the vampire was quick to recognize. He'd seen it in Buffy's on many occasions when he'd had to sweet-talk his way out of her staking him. "Look, I'm not the one who got you into this. Don't kill the messenger."

Riley pulled a stake out of his jacket and rammed it home into the vampire's chest. "Why the hell not?"

Spike's eyes widened and he howled at the agony. "Ow! Bloody hell!" That was as far as he got. Seconds later he exploded into dust. Riley stood there for a moment, his limbs trembling with the aftermath of his vented rage. He'd put paid to one of the demons haunting him. Now he had to deal with the others.

Xander peered at the door to the training room. According to Anya, Buffy had been in there for quite a long stretch. She hadn't even said anything to the ex-demoness. The brunette was anxious. The fire Buffy ignited at the vamp nest apparently hadn't improved her bad mood. He wondered just how much more damage she'd wreak before she got it out of her system.

He glanced over his shoulder as the bell to the Magic Box rang. His hopes for restored peace momentarily soared when he saw it was Riley. Maybe he could talk some sense into Buffy or at least get to the bottom of this seriously wiggy destructive behavior.

"She in there?" Riley nodded in the direction of the training room door.

"She's training." Xander didn't elaborate. There was a drawn, haunted expression in Riley's eyes. Xander had been seeing it for weeks now even though Buffy was apparently oblivious to it. He realized that whatever was going on with Buffy, Riley was probably involved. The question was how?

"Would you guys mind clearing out? I need a minute alone with her."

Anya smiled knowingly as he headed past her. "A little after hours hanky panky in the training room, huh? Xander and I could tell you some stories."

"Not now, Anya." Xander began hustling his girlfriend out before she could commence on another round of tales of their shared sex life. No matter how often he chided her, she continued to blurt out details of their amorous adventures whenever they crossed her mind—which they seemed to do every ten minutes.

Buffy threw solid jabs at the punching bag. _"Harder."_ Each time she closed her eyes, she saw him in that squalid little room. How could he do this? How could he do that to himself, to her? Why would he hurt her like this?

"_Harder." _She'd give him harder, all right. She continued her assault on the bag.

Riley watched her for a moment. He was taking a risk talking to her now and he knew it. He recalled the cracked rib she'd given him after one of their sparring matches. Then she had only been playing. Now there was no telling what she would do to him if she decided to take advantage of her slayer strength. "We need to talk."

Buffy grunted with another short punch. "I'm not ready to talk to you yet."

He grabbed the bag, holding it still. "Too bad. We need to have this out, Buffy. Right now."

Buffy's look was stony as she peeled off her training gloves. "And say what, Riley?" 'What were you thinking?' 'How long have you been lying to me?' Nothing you say right now is going to make this better." She walked away with a stiff angry stride. He ran after her and grabbed her arm.

"I realize that! I don't expect—" He drew in a deep breath and strove for control. Buffy was angrier than he'd ever seen her and she had every reason to be. But nothing was to be gained by losing his temper, too. "I just need you to hear me out."

"Fine," was the cold response. "Get your hand off me."

He backed away from that hostile glare and tried to order his thoughts. "I think this thing started—it was just some stupid immature game. I wanted to even the score after you let Dracula bite you."

"I did _not_ let Dracula bite me!"

"I realize that," he interjected. "On some level, I know that. But I was still spun. I don't know...I wanted to know what you felt. I wanted to know why Dracula and Angel have so much power over you."

"Okay, Dracula was playing a sick mindgame and Angel—I loved Angel. If you think love has something to do with that kind of control and dominance, you so don't get what love is, Riley Finn."

"I wanted to get it. I wanted to get you. It's just…these girls—"

"Vampires. Killers," came the blunt correction.

Riley winced at the cold contradiction but he couldn't refute the statement. "They made me feel something, Buffy, something I didn't even know I was missing."

"Fine! Tell me about your whores," she bit out. "Tell me what on earth they were giving you that I can't."

"They needed me," he said flatly.

"They needed your money. It wasn't about you," Buffy retorted.

"No, on some basic level, it was about me. My blood. My body." Riley stopped speaking, his breath coming in harsh pants. He was starting to shake just thinking about those many nights of dark desire when he let those girls feed off him and for a moment he couldn't meet those accusing green eyes.

When he regained some of his composure, he continued, his tone soft and introspective as he attempted to make Buffy understand why the yearning kept resurfacing, pulling him back night after night. "When they bit me, it was beyond passion. They wanted to devour me. All of me. It wasn't real. I knew it was just physical. But the fact that I craved it, even if it was fleeting…they made me feel they had such hunger for me."

Buffy stood there, trying to fight down her nausea. When she resumed speaking, her slow, measured words barely hid the icy rage behind them. "Riley, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Those _things_ didn't want you. They wanted a snack, a meal. Anya told me about this practice. She was a demon for over 1100 years and she's definitely got the inside track when it comes to this sort of thing. She says this has been going on for centuries. Humans do this for the high, the thrill. Vampires do it for the money, the blood and the opportunity to get fed without leaving telltale bodies behind them so they won't find themselves on the business end of a stake. You may have had some twisted fantasy running through your head to justify what you were doing with those creatures. But they had no such illusions about you. Any one of them might have gotten the urge to take things too far and you would have ended up just another blood-drained corpse. Do you understand that?"

His answer was so low she almost didn't hear it. "I know exactly what they feel when they bite me because I feel it every time we're together. It's like the whole world falls away and all there is is you."

"Well, obviously, I wasn't on your mind when those creatures were draining you, so how much could I have really meant to you?" Buffy wondered just how awful this confrontation was going to get. Riley had done nothing but proclaim his neediness for these vampire whores and hint that she wasn't enough for him and the nauseous feeling in her stomach was growing stronger by the minute.

"It wasn't about how little you meant to me. It was about how little I meant to you. You didn't even call me when your mom went into the hospital."

Buffy was stung. How dare he compare his…his…whatever his problem was with her very real pain! "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't take care of you when I thought my mother was dying!"

"It's about me taking care of you. It's about letting me in so you don't have to be on top of everything all the time!" Riley was beginning to feel as if this conversation was going nowhere. They were both too wrapped up in their individual despair to understand or empathize with each other. He wanted Buffy to know she could lean on him. Hell, he'd been trained as a soldier for most of his young life; it was in his nature to want to shelter and protect the people around him. But Buffy wouldn't let him. Even now she was trying to defend her behavior.

"But I have to be on top of things. That's part of what being a Slayer is." She stopped talking as a realization struck her. "And that's what this is really about, isn't it? You can't handle the fact that I'm stronger than you."

Riley swallowed and shifted his feet slightly; it was obvious her words had struck a nerve. "It's hard, sometimes, yeah. But that's not it."

"Oh, I think it is. Your macho pride got all bent out of shape when you learned I'd had more kills than you. It upset you when you realized I held back in my sparring sessions for fear I'd hurt you. You wouldn't get that rapid heartbeat problem fixed until it almost killed you because you were stronger with it than without it and you wanted desperately to keep up with me. _That's_ why you wanted those women. They played the needy, weak female card that I can't.

"'Cause I'm telling you. This is it. This is me. This is the package. And if it's so deficient that you need to get your kicks elsewhere, then we really have a problem."

Hazel eyes stared into green ones as the silence stretched out interminably between them. Then Riley dropped the bombshell. The military wanted him back. They were going on a covert operation with no civilians allowed. He'd be going deep undercover. And they were leaving tonight

Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. "Are you going?" she asked and she hated the trembling she heard in her voice.

"I don't know. If we can't work this out—"

Her eyes widened in shock. "Then what? This is goodbye?"

He didn't answer. He didn't need to. His silence spoke volumes. The anger spiralled upwards in her, higher than ever. Riley had committed this loathsome act with those demonic creatures and yet _she_ was the one who was supposed to prove her affections? "You. Are. Unbelievable. You're giving me an _ultimatum?!?"_

"No, I'm not—"

"Yes, you are!" She walked away from him again, pacing up and down like an angry jungle cat. "You know what really burns me about this conversation, Riley? In all this hate-filled spillage about payback, self-pity, blame and finally a 'love me or else' deal, you never once said you were sorry about what you did. Which means you see yourself as a martyr and me as the ballbusting girlfriend who drove you into the arms of hookers! Well, you know what? I'm not the villain here and I'm not taking the blame for your rotten lapse in judgment."

"Buffy, I'm not asking you to. This isn't about blame. I love you."

"Well, you've got a funny way of showing it, mister!" Buffy halted, shaking in every limb though she tried not to let him see it. "Don't leave me, Riley. Not like—" She pulled herself up short; no need to bring _him_ into this again. Mentioning his name would only make things worse.

Buffy tried to put all her heart into her words. "Riley, I love you. I don't know what I can do to prove it. But I know that our relationship has real problems that can't be solved in a single day. If you're willing to stay, I will do whatever it takes to fix things. But you have to try, too. This isn't going to work if only one of us makes the effort."

"I'm leaving, Buffy," came the quiet rejoinder. "Unless you give me a reason to stay, I'm leaving tonight."

Buffy picked up her coat and slowly made her way to the door. She waited for as long as she could for some word from him to call her back. But there was no sound at all.

The small blonde meandered down the street. She felt the same insides-ripped-out sensation she had experienced when she first learned what Riley was up to at night. Only, instead of the dizzying pain, there was an awful creeping numbness. It was almost like what she'd felt when Angel left her. Almost as bad but not quite. Maybe she was getting used to being dumped.

However, a familiar clenching in her gut swiftly dispelled the numbness. Vampires. Lots of them. She turned around carefully and found herself face to face with a bloodsucker. The streetlight was dim but she nevertheless recognized him as a vampire from the torched nest.

"The pyro act was a bad idea, Slayer." He had a decidedly cocky note in his voice. His crew outnumbered her eight to one, all of them itching to take down the girl who'd destroyed their home and business.

"Walk away. I'm serious. Don't do this. Not now." After her tense confrontation with Riley, she had no more energy or inclination to finish what she'd started with them and Buffy was sorely tempted simply to let them go. They were nothing: a social evil like Giles had said. They weren't the problem, after all. People with their addictions were. People like Riley.

The head vampire mistook her tension for fear. The demon responded, "I'm not running and you're not shutting me down. In fact, you're not gonna make it through the night."

"I'd take her up on her offer if I were you," came a quiet voice from behind them. The vamps turned and Buffy drew in a breath from surprise. It was Riley. He was holding what Buffy recognized as a taser in his arms.

The leader smirked at the display. Either he didn't know the weapon for what it was or he didn't care. "Well, look who it is. The guy who brought the Slayer to our doorstep. Listen, bud, you're a favorite customer with us so I'm willing to let that mistake slide. Just let us handle this little 'pest' problem and we'll set up house elsewhere. We'll be back in business before you know it and you can look us up again when we do. Okay?"

"No, it really isn't okay. The people I work for don't stand idly by while civilians get killed by hostiles." Riley quickly brought up the taser and blasted the nearest vamp. The creature squawked and crumbled to the ground and the fight was on.

The skirmish was short but decisive. Buffy took out the majority of the creatures with a weapon handily provided by a vamp that tried to hit her with a jagged wooden board. Riley dispatched two with a stake concealed under his jacket.

Buffy cast aside the board. For a moment, there was an awkward silence as they gazed at each other. "So. You're still here."

"Yeah. Guess I am." There was a short pause while the two tried to sort out their feelings. "Buffy—"

"Riley—"

"What?"

"No, what did you want to say?"

"That's…I mean, it's okay. Ladies first."

Buffy was secretly amused at this sign of old-fashioned chivalry but she wanted to know what had brought Riley back. "No, you were going to say something. I-I really want to hear it."

Riley gazed at the girl who held his heart in her deceptively small hands. Did she even realize how much he cared about her? He'd just seen her kill several vampires without breaking a sweat but now she looked so fearful as if a wrong word would crush her. It was what he wanted—or thought he had wanted.

"I was going to say…I got all the way to the chopper and then I thought about what you said. I did something horrible to you, something really heartless and cruel. I put you through hell. And then when you found out, I took the coward's way out and decided to run. A soldier shouldn't do that. Hell, a man shouldn't do that. You were right. If we're going to solve our problems, I need to stick around not just take off when the going gets rough."

"And the taser?"

He glanced down at it almost sheepishly. "Hey, this is Sunnydale. It was getting dark and, knowing my luck, I figured I'd run into some hostile ready to take me down just when I had somewhere I really needed to be. I grabbed it from the chopper and headed back here as quickly as I could."

Buffy couldn't prevent the brief smile that flickered across her face. Boys and their toys. Then she sighed and directed her eyes at the ground. "I guess you were right about a few things, too. About me not letting you in. I-I just had this crazy idea of protecting you by keeping you in the dark. If that's what I really wanted to do, I'd never have told you about me being the Slayer. So—if you're staying in Sunnydale, there's a few things you need to know. About Dawn, for instance."

"What about Dawn?" Riley was a bit surprised by the turn the conversation had taken. He'd thought she was going to talk to him about her mom, her new closeness with Spike, the Glory threat. Somehow her bratty kid sister hadn't figured in his concerns about her.

The petite woman glanced around furtively. "I'd prefer not to talk about it in the open." She proceeded back down the street and then paused to smile at him almost shyly. "Walk me home?"

Riley's returning smile was just as tentative. They weren't back to normal by a long shot. But at least it was a start.

TBC


	2. Power Play

Rupert Giles surveyed the Magic Box with a great deal of self-satisfaction. After an initially shaky start, the customers had started pouring in and business was doing rather well. Anya's selling skills still needed work but pointing out how proper sales technique ensured higher profit margins usually accomplished the task of smoothing out her rough edges.

If only he could deal with the impending arrival of the Council Watchers as easily…

He'd called an impromptu meeting in order to prepare Buffy. His announcement that a delegation of Watchers was heading to Sunnydale had produced a bit of a stir among her friends. Needless to say, she hadn't taken the news well.

Those green eyes stared at him with anger and worry warring for dominance. "Why do they have to come here? Giles, I don't want them to come. Not now, not ever. I don't trust them. Make them not come here."

All right, perhaps "stir" had been too mild a word. Giles shrugged helplessly as he began cleaning his glasses. I'm afraid they're already on their way. But if the Council knows something about Glory, her agenda or her origins, then maybe it will help us get a grip on what we're dealing with. Right now, we're a bit lost."

Riley wound his arms around Buffy, a gesture she didn't acknowledge. He could feel the tension running through her though he didn't understand it. Tara was puzzled; she thought of English people as being essentially rather mild mannered. Willow and Xander tried to be reassuring. Anya was the only other person seriously disturbed by the news. She thought the Council's anti-demon stance might prove harmful to her own welfare and her self-absorption kicked into high gear.

Who or what was this Watchers Council anyway? Riley decided to talk to Buffy about it later. She was too busy trying to keep Dawn from eavesdropping to speak freely in front of him.

Giles for his part resolved to go on with his life as if everything were normal…at least as normal as anything ever got on the Hellmouth. That meant running his business to the best of his abilities. He instructed a dark-haired woman about her recent purchase of a magical tome. "If you're serious about this, madam, you need to be very careful. Measure precisely and please don't step ahead."

"No, he's quite right," said a low rumbling voice. "You don't want to do anything dangerous and turn the wrong person into a badger."

The comment brought chuckles from the brunette and Giles forced a tight smile onto his face. "Quentin. I didn't realize you were here. I see you've brought some of our colleagues with you," indicating seven or eight people lined up behind Travers. "Care to introduce us?"

Quentin Travers let his eyes wander over the shop intently before coming to rest on Giles again. "First I thought we might catch up."

"Certainly, certainly." Giles began bustling about, keenly aware of Travers's deceptively placid gaze resting on him. "This is the shop, obviously. It's been a very interesting transition into the world of retail. In fact, I think it's going rather well."

One of the men with Travers, of Eastern Indian descent by the look of him, was rummaging on the shelves behind the counter. "Most of this stuff couldn't harm anyone…incense, dime store trinkets. But there are some things..."He handed a jar of purple storm sand to Travers.

Giles gave the man a look of baffled annoyance. "I'm sorry. Who are you?" Turning around, he noticed that all of Travers's assistants were similarly engaged in handling objects, picking items off the shelves and inspecting the store's contents.

The Indian ignored the question and pulled a book out of the former Watcher's hands. He walked to the middle of the store and calmly announced, "Magic Box shoppers. We're going to have to ask you to leave. The store is closing early today."

Anya was immediately up in arms. Her customers were leaving and taking their beloved money with them! "Hey! Giles, what are they doing? Customers, please bring your money back." Her furious expression demanded to know why Giles wasn't stopping these meddlesome people from

interfering with good old-fashioned American consumerism.

Giles was outraged. "You knew you were going to do this before you even saw the place." This was the Council, all right, as highhanded as ever. Why had he believed this would be merely an amicable exchange of information?

"I'm sorry," Quentin replied without the slightest trace of remorse in his voice. "It's just for the duration of the Council's review."

"Council? You're the Council?" Anya's mouth went dry. She'd been treated to Buffy's horror story of how the Council had tested her on her 18th birthday. The ex-demon was understandably terrified of what these people might do to _her_ if they learned about her former non-human status. "Welcome to our store. We're closed now. I'll be in the back." She fled as fast as she could without actually running and shut the training room door behind her.

Left on his own with Travers and his lackeys, Giles faced the older man. "Now tell me about this review. No one said anything to me about this." Travers gestured for one of his nameless tagalongs to pour tea. Giles waved away his cup. He was suddenly uninterested in the pleasantries.

"We've discovered information about this creature, your Glory. Some of it is clearly vital, the rest merely extremely disturbing, and it won't be handed over until we are convinced that you and your Slayer are prepared for it. Thus the review."

"I'm not having you put her through another one of your insane trials." Giles's voice was low but the threat in it was unmistakable. He had nearly lost Buffy to the Cruciamentium—not just her life but her faith in him as well. It had taken weeks before he was able to regain her forgiveness and trust. He was not about to risk that loss again.

Travers continued unruffled in the face of the other man's ire. "It's not a test. It's a check of her methods. We need to know that this information is safe."

Rupert's gaze turned icy as he succinctly explained how Buffy had grown as a person and took her responsibilities as a Slayer far more seriously than she had as a teenager.

The same responsible young woman could barely keep her eyes open during history class. The teacher was droning on and on about Rasputin, managing to make the Mad Monk of imperialist Russia sound as interesting as drying paint. However, her curiosity was piqued when he mentioned how the man had managed to live through even the most extraordinary assassination attempts.

Buffy had her own theory about why Rasputin was still being seen as late as the 1930s. But as usual her ideas did nothing but irritate the teacher and provoke laughter from her fellow students. The ridicule and the professor's obvious contempt were more than she could stand.

She was still fulminating about it hours later while pounding the stuffing out of a large vampire. " 'Miss Summers,' " She kneed him in the jaw. " 'Some of us are here to learn, Professor.' " A swift kick to the ribs was followed by a powerhouse right jab and left block. She spun the vamp around and threw him headfirst into a bulldozer. " 'Maybe you'd like to teach your own class.' "

The vampire she was fighting looked around in bafflement; the creature of the night couldn't figure out what had this woman kicking his ass so steamed. "Who are you talking to?" He jumped up abruptly causing her to stagger back. A moment later a big man came hurtling through the air and tackled the monster from behind. Buffy watched as Riley wrestled the vampire onto the ground and then staked it before it could recover.

"Riley. What are you doing here?"

He glanced up, brushing the vamp dust from his blue jeans. "Patrolling, same as you. You're welcome, by the way."

Buffy continued her patrolling around the gravestones without answering him. Riley scrambled up from the ground and hurried after her. "Buffy, wait. Look, tell me what's wrong. You've barely spoken to me since yesterday when Giles was talking about that Council. I don't get why they've got you so spooked."

"They're bad news, Riley. They had Giles rob me of my strength in some bizarre test on my 18th birthday and then sicced a huge crazy vampire on me."

"But you beat him, right? I mean, you're still standing, so you must have kicked his ass, didn't you?"

Buffy whirled on him. "Riley, the vampire wasn't the problem. This wasn't some pass-or-fail test. This was life or death. The Slayer has to pass that test or she dies. Up until then, I thought the Council existed to serve Slayers. Instead, it's the other way around. Their leader, a real bastard by the name of Quentin Travers, fired Giles when he cheated by telling me what was happening to me!"

Buffy paused in her tale, breathing hard. She knew it wasn't fair to take her anger out on Riley. He hadn't been there. He didn't know the terror of being an ordinary girl at the mercy of a crazed killer.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The knowledge that Giles had deliberately done this to her, that he'd knowingly placed her life in mortal danger, had shocked her to the core. He was supposed to be taking care of her, training her, seeing to her safety. He had cautioned her time and again to be careful whenever she went patrolling or took on some new baddie. Then he had tricked her and lied to her. She had nearly died because of him. Her _mom_ had nearly died because of him.

She had forgiven him eventually. She couldn't have remained a Slayer if she hadn't. But the memory brought up a lot of trust issues that for various reasons she was unwilling to rehash with Riley—especially since their renewed romance was still so fragile.

The object of her concern was staring at her with clear astonishment in his hazel eyes. "Why would they do that to you, to their own Slayers?"

Buffy's eyes turned stormy as she stared in front of them. "Because when one Slayer dies, another one rises. They think of us as being expendable. Just common foot soldiers in the never-ending battle against evil."

The ex-commando clenched his jaw at these bitter words. He remembered what Buffy had told him of Slayers. Even now he could hardly believe it—that there existed an elite cabal that called young girls and threw them into a perilous struggle when they were still in puberty. The very thought of it gave him chills. He ran his eyes over the face of the small woman beside him. No wonder Buffy sometimes looked sadder than anyone her age had reason to be.

"But they're not going to do that test now. They're here to give info on Glory. Right?"

Buffy shook her head, caught up in her own thoughts. "If that were all they wanted, why not by phone, fax or email? I don't trust them and I don't want them getting so close to Dawn." She paused, horrified, as something occurred to her. "Oh God."

"What? Buffy, what is it?" He scanned the surrounding area, wondering if she'd spotted some hostile looming out of the darkness.

"They assigned Merrick, my first Watcher, to me. Then Giles after Merrick died. They both knew who I was, what I looked like, where to find me. They got that information from the Council. What if the false memories those monks gave all of us about Dawn don't extend to the Council members? If they learn I have a sister that's not recorded in their mystic files, that's it, it's over. They'll know what she is. They might have her killed to keep her out of Glory's hands!"

Riley turned to face her and tightly grasped both of her shoulders. "Buffy, relax. You're exaggerating. They wouldn't do that—would they?" He looked uncertainly into her face.

Buffy struggled in his grip, an irrational terror prompting her to get home to her sister. "You don't know that, Riley. You don't know what these people are capable of."

He released her with a sigh of exasperation. "Fine. If you believe the matter's that serious, then I think it's time you told the others about Dawn. You should tell her, too."

Buffy remembered how hard it had been for her to deal with being a Slayer when she was only 15. She had hated it, hated the thought that her happy, carefree life was gone forever. She was determined that Dawn not go through the same experience. "No, I can't tell that to Dawn. The others maybe, but not her."

"Yes, especially her! The way she's been snooping around, she's bound to find out sooner or later. Besides, what other excuse are you going to give her to keep her out of the Council's way?"

Riley's point was a good one, dammit. The longer Dawn kept eavesdropping on private conversations, the sooner she was going to find out the truth. Buffy just didn't know how she could break something like that to her.

"Great, Riley. Maybe you can come up with a soothing way to say, 'Pass the salt, Dawn, and, by the way, you're not really my sister. You're just a mystical ball of energy that's been given a flesh envelope by some Russian monks.' "

Riley ignored the bitter sarcastic tone. "Well, naturally, we're going to have to find a way to break it to her gently."

Her face was a study in bemusement as she considered the problem. "Nothing comes to mind."

"We'll think of something." He laid an arm around her shoulders and after a moment she allowed herself to relax slightly into his embrace.

Buffy felt a minor lightening of her spirits. All right, her relationship with Riley wasn't 100 but they were both trying. He still wanted to be a rock for her in times of need. She was trying to be forgiving and include him more in her plans with the others. But she couldn't quite bring herself to reach out and touch him yet. She would make an attempt and then the image of him in that darkened room with the vampire hooker fastened like a leech to his arm would surface in her mind and desire would die like a blown-out candle.

She signed inwardly and pulled out of his grip. She pushed open the door to the Magic Box and halted. Riley bumped into her still body and peered over her head to see what had caused her to stop.

Giles was standing stiffly next to a shorter old gentleman. There were several other people grouped around them, all staring intently at the pair in the doorway. The old man spoke first. "Miss Summers. Good to see you again."

Buffy entered the store with Riley at her heels. "Mr. Travers," she replied in a unwelcoming tone.

This was Travers? At first glance, he appeared to be nothing more than a harmless old fogey. But then Riley saw his expressionless eyes and all his inner alarms went off.

"And who is this young man with you?"

"No one," Buffy said too quickly. "Just a would-be customer. I'm sorry, sir, the Magic Box is closed. Come back tomor—"

"Riley Finn," the large Iowan said, resolutely ignoring Buffy's slayer glare.

"And what exactly is your relationship with Miss Summers?"

"None of your business," Riley replied in an equally cool tone. Now he knew what it was about this guy that had his teeth on edge. Travers had the same chilly dictatorial manner of Professor Walsh.

Travers went on in the same calm voice he used for everything. "That remains to be determined. Miss Summers, we've already laid out our project for Mr. Giles. Nigel?"

The Indian stepped forth and proceeded to give his instructions in a bored, pompous tone. "It's an exhaustive examination of your procedures and abilities. We'll observe your training, talk to your friends…"

"Talk to my friends? Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Buffy couldn't believe Travers would just walk in here and try to push her around like this. She looked at Giles and noticed that he was studiously avoiding her gaze. Uh oh, that didn't look good.

Travers seated himself and peered at her with clinical detachment. "I can sense your resistance. I don't blame you. But I think your Watcher hasn't reminded you lately of the ranks and status of our little game. The Council fights evil. The Slayer is the instrument by which we fight. The Council remains; the Slayers change. It's been that way from the beginning.

"Glory is stronger than you. She's a more powerful instrument, if you will. We have information that will help. Pass the review and we give it to you without reservation. Fail the review, either through incompetence or by resisting our recommendations—"

"Resisting your recommendations? How much under your thumb do you think we are?!" Giles yelled in barely contained fury.

"How much do you want our help?" Travers replied. He had Giles and Buffy right where he wanted them and he knew it. Turning to the blonde woman, he continued. "There are factors which should motivate you to go along with the review. I don't want to do this but obviously we could shut this place down permanently."

"You can't do that," Riley said, his eyes narrowing. "You don't have that kind of power."

"Of course we do and a great deal more. In fact, if Miss Summers insists on fighting us, we'll arrange to have Mr. Giles deported within a day. He'll never set foot in this country again. Now perhaps you're used to idle threats and sloppy discipline, Miss Summers, but you're dealing with grownups now. Am I making myself clear?"

After Squinting Travers and the Sunnydale Tea Party (as Buffy had taken to calling them) vacated the Magic Box, the Slayer slumped at the table looking utterly dejected. Riley hated to see her like this but felt helpless to do anything about it. The whole situation sucked, any way you looked at it.

Giles paced back and forth, furiously polishing his glasses and muttering all the while. Buffy looked in Riley's direction. "I don't suppose there's anything you can do? Maybe you could contact someone in the government or one of your ex-Initiative buddies."

"Buffy, I'd like nothing better. But we're military. We work for the government not vice versa. I don't have any real clout with elected officials. And if these guys have their passports all legal and above board—"

"They do," Giles muttered while staring sightlessly into the depths of the store.

"—Then INS can't force them to leave. And my former Initiative pals are deep undercover in Central America. They're not going to break radio silence just to keep some Englishman from being deported. No offence, Mr. Giles."

"None taken, I assure you."

Riley frowned, thinking hard of other options. Now, more than ever, he wanted to show Buffy she could rely on his aid. She had asked for his assistance and he would give it to the best of his abilities. But first he needed to know what he was up against. "Can they really do the stuff they threatened? Kick you out of the country?"

"In a heartbeat. This stuff, the bureaucracy, pulling the political strings, they're the best in the world. They can kill you with a stroke of a pen. Poncy sons of—" A sharp crack came from his hands, revealing that Giles had finally scrubbed his lenses a wee bit too hard.

Buffy looked up at the sound. "Am I going to be able to get through this review?"

Giles was swift to assure her as he pulled up a chair beside the blonde woman. "I suppose they'll make it as difficult as they want to. The physical stuff may be a bit of a challenge."

"That's not what I'm worried about. Twice now I've been within slaying distance of Glory and twice she's kicked my ass without even tensing a muscle and I haven't been able to figure out what she is or anything about her except that she wants the Key which I have and I can't even figure out if it's okay for me to tell anyone that." Buffy paused after the long-winded speech and wrapped her arms around her small frame.

Riley could see she was working herself up to a fever pitch of anxiety. "Buffy, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Her voice rang out loudly in the empty store and she shut her mouth with a snap, giving him an apologetic look.

"Okay, fine. Stay angry. But stay focused. You're going to need that if you hope to get through this. Just take a deep breath. That's an order." The abrupt authoritative tone brought her up short. Buffy gaped at Riley's set face for a moment. Then she took in an exaggerated gulp of air.

"That's good. Now keep telling yourself 'They're the assholes. They're the assholes.' Think of it as a kind of mantra," he grinned.

Giles hid a smile and then sighed. "He's right, Buffy. They have crucial information that we need but instead of giving it to us willingly, they choose to hold it hostage. I don't care if they see themselves as 'adults' in this business. It's childish and humiliating."

Buffy smiled wanly at him. "Also smart. They picked the perfect leverage. I can't lose you."

Giles blinked at the quiet statement. "Thank you." She touched his hand as they shared a moment of closeness between them.

Riley stood aside, watching them both. Oddly enough, he felt no envy of the two of them. He had often considered himself the outsider in Buffy's little group. It was one of the many reasons he had despaired of ever being close to her heart. Now he understood just how much a man like Mr. Giles meant to her. He only hoped he might prove as worthy of such regard.

As if sensing his scrutiny, Buffy cocked an eyebrow at Riley. "So they're the assholes, huh?"

Assholes. Oh yeah. You bet. According to what her friends told her, the Council toadies had been around to each one with probing questions about their involvement in Buffy's life. However, when attempts were made to interrogate Riley, all they got was that he'd been involved with a classified project and that attempts to learn more would be considered a breach of protocol and he'd have his questioner arrested.

Buffy grinned at his description of the encounter. "Wow. They really bought that?"

He shrugged off her obvious admiration. "It's more or less the truth, Buffy. It should keep them off my back anyway. How did things go at your end?"

Buffy grimaced as she tried to battle twin feelings of anger and frustration. She gave a rough sketch of her afternoon: how she had been forced to fight, bare-armed and blindfolded, against an armed opponent while Squinting shouted commands at her in Japanese. She'd disarmed her attacker easily but the "target" she was supposed to be protecting got impaled by an axe. All in all, not a favorable beginning.

"So where are you headed now?" Buffy threw on her jacket and headed out of the Magic Box.

"Well, I'm not really in the mood for socializing and since this whole Glory mess got started, I've been getting home early to check in on Mom and Dawn. Want to come with?" The Iowan was happy to oblige; he hadn't seen Dawn or Miss Summers for a bit. It would be nice to catch up.

Buffy opened the door and hung her purse on the coat rack nearby. Riley couldn't help but notice how quiet the house was. Admittedly only three people lived here but his house had always been bustling with activity back on the farm. He like to hear the noise of other people around him and this silence seemed…off, somehow.

"Mom? Where are you?" Buffy rounded the corner to the living room and froze. Standing there with an empty smile pasted on her face was Glory.

"Long day, sweetie?"

Buffy overcame her paralysis and moved farther into the living room. Glory was wandering around the place, idly running her hands along the furniture and fiddling with various personal items. Riley had stopped when Buffy did and Glory hadn't seen him yet. Behind the demon's back, Buffy silently mouthed the words, "Keep out of sight."

"So this is where the Slayer eats, sleeps and gets laid. Can't even stand it," she sniffed. "Personally, I need more space. Plenty of space. I don't like having any humans near me. The mess. The bodily secretions. The smell." She gave an exaggerated shudder and brushed imaginary dirt from her hands. "But this…this is good for you. Tiny but cramped. Suits you down to a tee, small stuff."

Great. She's running down my home life? What is it with bad guys and their urge to babble? "What do you want?"

Glory plopped down on a small armchair. She was fabulously dressed as always. If she felt at all out of her element, she didn't show it. "The Key. Why else do you think I'd come to this squalid little hole? See, I think you know where it is and that's good because it's the only thing keeping you alive right now. 'Cause you may be tiny queen in vampire world but to me you're a bug. You should get down on your knees and worship me!"

Buffy didn't pay attention to the rambling speech. She did her best to keep her stance loose and relaxed and her eyes trained on the demented monster in front of her. Riley was hovering behind Glory, just out of sight, and Buffy was determined not to reveal his presence.

Glory never so much as turned her head as she continued watching Buffy. "Hey, you!" she shouted. "Come here a sec. Not gonna ask twice."

Shit. "Leave him out of this," Buffy gritted. "This is between you and me."

Glory smirked at the futile display of anger. Did this puny mortal really think she had any say in what was happening? "No, this is between me and my Key. You just happen to be the thing in the way." She snapped her fingers for Riley to come closer.

Glory ran her eyes over his tall form. Her scrutiny was a blatant parody of a come-on and it made Riley's skin crawl. "Well, aren't you a handsome stud! For a human, anyway. What's your name, good-looking?"

"Riley." Buffy wanted to hit him. What the hell was he thinking, telling this monster his name? Was he going to introduce himself to every evil creature he met?

Glory was delighted; she could tell that the Slayer was upset and it pleased her no end to show this mortal trash who was the boss. But right now she had more important things on her mind than the blonde bitch's feelings. "Riley, did you know your girlfriend took my Key and she won't give it back? I bet you know where she put it, don't ya? You're fucking her, she's got to have told you all her dirty little secrets." Her bright-eyed stare was like a hawk watching a rabbit. "Where's my Key, Riley?"

She was asking about the Key? Then that meant—this was Glory. He couldn't believe it; the woman looked like a model out of a magazine! This was supposed to be a threat?

Buffy couldn't keep still for much longer. Every slayer sense screamed at her to attack and get this _thing_ away from her lover. But Glory was being fairly restrained and Buffy didn't want to commit any action that might set her off.

"Riley, get out of here."

Riley glared at her. Dammit, she was doing it again! He opened his mouth to respond but caught sight of the look in her eyes.

She was afraid. It was as close to terror as he'd ever seen in her and he knew it wasn't for herself. Whatever this woman was, she was more dangerous than any hostile he'd ever fought, dangerous enough to put high holy terror into the Slayer. An instinct of self-preservation warred with the urge to defend his girlfriend. Finally he gave a sharp nod and turned on his heel.

"Fine. When you feel you can tell me what's happening, you know where to find me." He walked out without a backward glance and slammed the front door behind him.

Glory fell back into the armchair with a small giggle. "Ooh, I like him! He's got that thick-necked, bull-headed charm I'm betting all the dumb blondes go for. And I'll kill him. I'll kill your mom. I'll kill your sister. I'll kill your friends. And I'll make you watch when I do. Just give me the Key."

Buffy's silence finally seemed to get on her unwanted guest's nerves. Glory stood up and all the amusement vanished from her voice. "Obviously, this is a one-time only deal. The next time we meet, something you love dies bloody." She shrugged and sauntered away from Buffy.

Mrs. Summers appeared only a moment later, glancing after the departing threat. "Buffy, who was that?"

"Mom. Pack a bag."

Where is he? Where is that Billy Idol-wannabe when I really need the help? Buffy had made the reluctant decision to leave her mother and sister with Spike. The vampire was a formidable fighter plus Buffy was fairly sure Glory didn't know where his crypt was. If worst came to worst, and the vamp couldn't fight her off, they could always escape through the tunnels. Besides, if she wipes the floor with him while he's protecting Mom and Dawn, I won't shed any tears over it.

But the peroxided wonder was nowhere to be seen. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him since—her mind shied away from that thought. She hadn't told anyone about the incident at the vamp brothel and she wasn't about to now.

"Where's Spike?" Dawn peer around, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the dust piled on the furniture. It doesn't look like he's been here for awhile, Buffy." She picked up a discarded glass caked with coagulated blood and set it down hastily. "Ugh! Gross!

"I don't know where he could be. But could you two just stay here until I get back from the Magic Box? I have to talk to Giles about our—visitor." She glanced at her watch and swore under her breath. She had to get to the Magic Box for her final assessment.

Xander, Anya, Tara, Willow and Riley peered down from the upper balcony of the Magic Box as the Council lackeys pawed, sifted and flipped through the store's inventory. "Something's wrong," Riley grumbled.

"I'll say," Anya sniffed in reply. "These people have no right going through the store like this. The least they could do is buy something."

Willow's sidelong stare was directed at Xander. It was one of her "What the hell are you doing with her?" looks that she frequently gave him since the ex-demon officially became his girlfriend. She considered Anya to be an even worse romantic choice than Cordelia had been. Other than the sex, she just didn't know what he saw in the greedy cow.

"No, I mean Buffy. She knows how important this is. It's not like her to be late, not when she knows Mr. Giles is at stake."

"Think something's happened to her? You said you didn't hear any sounds of fighting and you saw Glory leave the house almost right after you left," Xander whispered back. For some reason, no one felt like raising his or her voice. The presence of the Council was dampening everybody's spirits.

"Yeah, I did." After leaving the house, the ex-commando had hidden around the corner of the building, watching and listening intently for any sign of trouble. With the departure of Buffy's unwelcome guest, he had debated staying to check on his girlfriend or tailing after that mysterious woman. Opting for the latter, he'd tracked her on foot only to have her disappear into the crowd.

He didn't get it. Riley was highly skilled in stealth and tracking; how could some woman teetering along the street in high heels elude him as easily as she had? Then, when he had returned to the house to see Buffy, no one had answered his rings or knocks.

According to Buffy, this Glory had knocked her around easily without suffering any damage herself. The woman, creature, whatever she was, had even survived having a building fall on her! No wonder Buffy had been so anxious to protect him back at the house.

And now Buffy was late while that _thing_ was still on the loose somewhere. All at once Riley couldn't stand it any longer. "I'm going out again. See if I can find out where Buffy could be."

Xander nodded without taking his eyes off the Council members below. "Good luck. We'll hold down the fort here until you get back." Riley snatched up his jacket and silently left the store.

Buffy hurried down the street. She was late and she knew it. She cursed Glory and the Council. Between them, they were making her life miserable. Any demon that tried to get in her way tonight was going to face one really pissed off Slayer.

Speak of the devil…

A large masked figure lunged from behind some stacked up cans, grabbed Buffy around the waist and flung her to the ground. As the petite blonde scrambled to her feet, two more of the creatures leapt out of the darkness and began circling her, twirling long metal staves that winked and flashed in the air.

"Uh, guys, any way we could not do this? I'm kinda on a schedule here." The figures made no answer only began swinging their weapons. As Buffy threw a hard kick into one of her assailants' ribs, Riley rounded the corner. Seeing Buffy once again outnumbered, he charged into the fray.

One of the men swiveled at the sound of his running gait. Only Riley's quick duck at the last minute prevented the staff from impacting with his head. He slid on the ground the last few feet and his foot lashed out, catching the creature in the ankle. There was a solid cracking noise and the attacker went down with a howl of pain.

Buffy managed to disarm one of the two remaining and used his staff to take down the last fighter. As she sat on his prone form, Riley came up beside her, grimacing and flexing his right hand. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Next time warn me not to slug someone wearing chain mail as head gear."

"Gotcha." She lifted the face mask of her downed opponent. "Okay, let's see what you are." The mask came off to reveal—a human face. Her attacker was a human male albeit with a strange symbol on his forehead. "Or who you are."

The man glared up at her. "I'm a soldier in a vast army."

Riley squatted next to Buffy. "Really? I don't recognize your uniform, _soldier._"

The soldier ignored him, addressing his words to Buffy. "We're the Knights of Byzantium, an ancient order—and now your enemy."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. These guys were a new enemy? Right, like I don't have enough of the demonic kind. "You work for Glory?"

The man's face was eloquent in its outrage. "You think we would ally ourselves with the Beast? You must be mad," he spat.

The man may be a soldier but he doesn't know anything about maintaining silence. Riley listened in growing dismay as the Knight boasted about an army of thousands of Renaissance Fair escapees ready to take on the Slayer in order to destroy the Key. "Right. I've heard enough." Grabbing the guy by his collar, Riley knocked him out cold with a single jab. "Yep. Much better without the face plating."

Buffy picked up the soldier's sword. "C'mon. We've got to get going."

Riley ran after her though he cast a worried glance at the unconscious men lying behind them. "Buffy, this is getting serious. We've got an army heading our way."

She nodded curtly as she swung the sword without breaking stride. "I know. Like I don't have enough problems. But first things first."

The two walked into the Magic Box. Quentin Travers paid no attention to the sword in Buffy's hand. Giles, however, started up in alarm. "Buffy, was there an attack?" She smiled in appreciation at Riley.

"Nothing we couldn't handle, Giles." Seeing Travers, her smile promptly disappeared.

He spread his hands over the book opened on the table. "Good of you to make it, Miss Summers. We can begin the review at last."

"No."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Sorry?"

She tossed the sword onto the opened pages in front of him. "No review. No interrogation. No questions you know I can't answer. No hoops. No jumps. No interruptions." This last was directed at Nigel. The Indian had been about to speak but apparently thought better of it.

Buffy took a moment to survey the entire room. She didn't just see her enemies. She saw her friends. Her allies. The best support system any Slayer could have. Then she recalled the Watchers present and her gaze hardened. "I've had a lot of people talking at me the last few days. Everyone just lining up to tell me how unimportant I am. And I finally figured out why.

"Power. I have it. They don't. This bothers them." She started pulling off her coat and Riley got the odd sensation he was watching someone gearing up for a fight they were certain to win.

"Glory came to my house today." The remark was tossed off as casually as if she were talking about a visit from the Avon lady.

"Buffy, are you—?"Buffy was way too calm after that last statement and Giles wondered what Glory had done to her. His trepidation about the sword and its possible significance resurfaced.

The Slayer appeared unaware of his worried query. "Just to talk. She came into my house and we had what in her warped brain probably passes for a civilized conversation. She told me I'm a bug she could squash in a second. Only she didn't. Why? Because she needs something from me. Because I have power over her.

"You guys didn't come all the way from England to determine whether I was good enough to be let back in. You came to beg me to let you back in…to give your jobs, your lives some semblance of meaning."

Nigel spluttered in righteous indignation, "This is beyond insolence!" Buffy hurled the sword with effortless grace. It flew through the air and embedded itself into the wall inches from Nigel's head.

"I'm fairly certain I said no interruptions," was the calm reproof.

Buffy ran her eyes over Travers's companions. For the first time she addressed them directly. She wanted them to understand it was the entire Council she was taking on not just Travers. "You're Watchers. Without a Slayer, you're pretty much watching 'Masterpiece Theatre.' So here's how it's going to work. You're going to tell me everything you know and then you're going away. You'll contact me if and when you have any further information about Glory. The magic shop will remain open. Mr. Giles will stay here as my official Watcher reinstated at full salary—"

"Retroactive," Giles coughed out discreetly behind his hand.

"—To be paid retroactively from the month he was fired. I will continue my work with the help of my friends."

A prissy-looking Englishwoman with a tight bun stammered, "I-I don't want a sword thrown at me, but civilians? We're talking about children—for the most part," as she noticed Riley's level stare.

Casting an approving eye at the people on the balcony, Buffy retorted, "We're talking about two very powerful witches and a 1,000-year-old ex-demon."

"Willow's a demon?" Anya exclaimed. This time Willow didn't even bother looking at Xander as she rolled her eyes in disgust. Add a cowardly streak to Anya's list of rotten qualities.

Travers's bodyguard flicked a glance at Xander, clearly dismissing him. "The boy? No power there."

Remembering all the times Xander had willingly thrown himself in to fight alongside his friends, Buffy had no hesitation in denying this comment. "The _boy_ has clocked more field time than all of you combined. He's part of the unit."

Willow beamed at the brunette and whispered in his ear, "That's Riley-speak. He must be rubbing off on her. I mean, in a non-sexual way."

Xander wriggled, almost giddy, at Buffy's praise. "I'm part of a unit!"

The bodyguard gestured at the aforementioned Riley. "What about him? He said he's military? Is your government somehow involved? You know the Slayer's existence is a carefully-held secret and yet you insist on bringing in—_outsiders._" He said the last word with clear distaste.

"Outsiders. That's funny…considering you guys are the foreigners. Riley _is_ military and the only other thing you need to know about him is that he's got tons of experience in tracking, capturing and killing hos—demons. He's a highly-trained and capable fighter and I'd trust him at my back any day of the week."

A deep glow filled Riley. She trusted him. After what he'd done, she actually trusted him. He wanted to tell her just how much those words meant to him, little though he deserved them. But he knew it was more important that she finish what she had to say to these people.

"Now you all may be very good at your jobs. But the only way we're gonna find out is if you work with me. You can all take your time thinking about that. But I want an answer right now from Quentin.

"Because I think he's understanding me."

There was a tense breathless hush. Then— "Your terms are acceptable." At those dryly-spoken words whoops and cheers broke out among the American contingent seated in the balcony, swiftly stifled as the Slayerettes tried to regain a more dignified silence.

Buffy smiled sweetly at Travers. "See?" she said. "No begging. Now what about Glory? I want to know exactly what I'm up against."

Travers glanced at his notes again, forgotten until this moment. "Well, there's a lot to go through…"

Buffy waved her hand impatiently. "Just give me the gist. Tell me what kind of demon I'm fighting."

Travers looked her in the eyes and for the first time she saw something akin to real fear in him. "That's the thing, you see. Glory isn't a demon.

"She's a god."

TBC


	3. Let's Hear It for the Birthday Girl

Travers's announcement of Glory's status had severely rattled Buffy and her friends. They were up against a god, an actual god. It was true her forced imprisonment in mortal flesh was greatly limiting her strength and powers. But she was still immortal and crazy as a loon, which meant her actions were practically unpredictable.

The other news floored them completely. The Key she was after, the mystical energy that was so important to the fate of the world, was Dawn. They had a hard time wrapping their minds around that one. They all had memories of afternoons spent watching Dawn, bringing her home from school or helping her with her homework.

Willow and Tara were still discussing it in low tones as they sprinkled protective sand around the Magic Box. They'd already made circles around their various houses as an extra precaution. The circles would go off like a magical siren if anything evil tried to penetrate. When Dawn skipped past them into the Magic Box, Tara gazed after her with a bemused expression. "How can she not be real?" she murmured.

"She's real. She's just—new," Willow finished lamely.

The "new" girl sauntered into the Magic Box and slowed as she noticed Xander and Anya whispering together. Lately Dawn had noticed a change in everyone's behavior. They were defensive around her, clamming up whenever she walked into a room. If it wasn't that, they were always talking in whispers when they thought she couldn't hear.

"Hi, guys! Whacha doin'?"

Anya beamed at her. It was an exaggerated smile, nothing like her usual generic perky expression that she used for the benefit of humans. "Hello, Dawn. You make a very pretty girl!"

Xander jumped as if his pants were on fire. "And on some days you make a fairly tolerable human being, Anya. Say, could you help me with that thing we discussed in the back room?"

Anya beamed again. This smile was even more artificial than the first one. "Xander wants me to help him with his thing!"

Xander dragged her off while Anya waved at her. Geez. She really needs to work on her people skills. She needs to work on her human skills, period. Dawn poked around at the miscellaneous items on the store shelves.

She straightened up when Buffy and Riley came out from the training room. Buffy had taken to training with Riley and for longer and longer hours. Patrolling was taking up more time, too. When she wasn't doing those, she took turns with Riley in staying at the Summers' house. If Dawn didn't know any better, she'd have sworn they were trying to keep an eye on her.

Dawn wasn't sorry to see them together, though. A short while back, it'd looked as if their relationship had hit some sort of wall. Riley was still kinda nervous around Buffy as if he were afraid of hurting her feeligs. And sometimes Buffy would get a sad expression in her eyes and a tightness around her mouth whenever she looked at him. And she no longer sent Dawn over to Xander's apartment so she and Riley could boink in private.

So the two of them were still together. They were just no longer screwing. Dawn didn't know a lot about how much a part sex played in adult relationships. But she figured that two people who were having sex pretty regularly were in some sort of trouble if they stopped the way Riley and Buffy had. They wouldn't tell her about it, though. Nope, not little Dawn. She was too young to be let in on grownup conversation.

Riley looked up when he saw her. "Hey, kid. How's school?"

Dawn hated it when Riley called her a kid but nothing she said about it seemed to make any difference. "Um, the usual. Big square building filled with boredom and despair."

"Yep, just how I remember it." Riley sat down at the oblong table and stretched out his legs. "So how's the homework situation?"

Dawn shrugged indifferently as she dumped her schoolbag on the floor. "We have to imagine what we'll be like ten years from now and write a letter to our future selves. The teacher's clearly so out of original ideas. Wanna help?"

Riley shifted in his seat as he considered the request. "I don't know, Dawn. You're kinda young to be thinking about a future so far in advance. Most kids your age don't think much further than what they're going to have for breakfast."

"Oh, what? Are you saying you were just as clueless when you were our age?" Dawn retorted, stung.

"Yeah, Riley. Did you know what you wanted to be when you were 15?" Buffy found herself genuinely curious about his answer. Riley had talked volubly about his life back in Iowa in the beginning of their relationship, but she had often been too bored by the tameness of his rural anecdotes to pay them or him much attention. Now that she realized how she hurt him with her indifference she took care to display the proper girlfriend-y interest in his life.

Riley appeared a bit embarrassed. "It's not that big a deal."

Dawn leaned forward onto the Magic Box counter. She smelled a cover-up. "Oh, c'mon, spill. Make with the details already."

Buffy plopped down beside him and eyed her boyfriend with a knowing smirk. "I bet I know. It was probably something muy macho like being an astronaut."

"Or a rodeo cowboy."

"Or a stock car driver."

"Or an announcer at female nude mud wrestling contests." Seeing Buffy's and Riley's blank stares, Dawn shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, that's one of Xander's fantasies. Anya told me so."

"And on that disturbing note, I'll bring your speculations to an end. I wanted to be a soldier."

The girls stared at the tall man who shifted under the weight of their mutual gazes. "You wanted—? You knew you were going to be a soldier when you were still a teenager?" Buffy remembered just what she had mapped out for her life around that age. She had been a lot like Cordelia. There were no thoughts, no concerns beyond picking out her clothes and sweating over her geometry homework. She'd dreamed about going to Paris, being a supermodel and marrying Christian Slater. Then Merrick came and showed her a different world—a world of nightmares made real.

Everything had changed for her after that. She recalled the long, loud arguments between her parents over her increasingly odd behavior. The other girls had ostracized her because she no longer joined in the usual mindless teenage dribble about boys, fashion, music and diet.

Becoming a Slayer changed that forever. All of her girlish dreams had been snuffed out after her first vampire kill.

But here was Riley saying that his life's work was exactly what he'd planned for himself. All at once she was swept by envy so great, she had to choke back a lump in her throat.

Riley smiled uncertainly at her. He was aware of her sudden distress but couldn't figure out where it came from. When she looked up a moment later, the sadness was replaced by an avid look of attention. Wondering if he'd imagined it, he continued his story.

"My father was a Seal and my grandfather was a Marine. It was expected that I would be in some kind of military service when I was old enough to enlist."

"So you went into it because they did. Sort of like a family business, huh?" Dawn asked.

Riley hastened to correct her. "No, no, I wanted to go into service. The stories my dad and granpa told me always sounded so exciting and important. I thought I could really make a difference in the world. I'd get to travel, see exotic locales, make new friends…"

"Get to make out with foreign babes," Dawn added in a knowing tone.

"You've been spending way too much time with Anya, Dawn."

Dawn rolled her eyes at her sister's disapproval. Changing the subject abruptly, she asked, "So, Riley, you coming to Buffy's birthday party?"

Riley stroked a lock of Buffy's hair, enjoying the way it curled around his fingers. "Count on it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." Her answering smile made his breath catch. It always took him by surprise, her blinding beauty. It was constantly sneaking up on him at moments like this.

Dawn resisted the urge to make gagging noises. In spite of his sometimes annoying ways, she was glad to have Riley around. He made Buffy happy without the angst and weepiness that Angel brought on. She didn't want to do anything to spoil it.

Riley stood up and headed towards the door. "I'll see you later, Buffy. Don't forget what we talked about." Giving her a significant look behind Dawn's back, he exited the Magic Box.

"What did you two talk about?"

"Oh, some new moves for our next training session. I may be stronger than Riley but he knows kick-butt moves that are always catching me off guard," was Buffy's quick reply. "We should head on home, too, Dawn. We don't want Mom to get worried."

Dawn slung her bag over one shoulder and followed her sister. "Hey, you think Mom got that ice cream we both like?"

Buffy grinned at the thought and licked her lips in anticipation. "You mean Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip? She'd better or I am pulling one major slayer tantrum." The girls giggled as they opened the Magic Box door.

"Hey, Anya, you can come out and stop playing with Xander's thing now!" Dawn yelled to the rear of the store. Buffy punched her on the arm. "Ow! What?"

Presents. Cake and candles and decorations. All the trappings for a normal birthday. One could only hope. Buffy brushed her hair until it gleamed. It wasn't just anticipation driving her. It was nervousness. Riley had been pressing her to reveal the truth to Dawn. She just didn't know how she was going to do it. Or when. Or if.

Stepping back from the mirror, she paused to assess her appearance critically. With the Council's review, the Glory menace, the constant round of patrolling, training, training and more training, she'd been running herself ragged. But you'd never know it from that girl smiling in the mirror. Thank goodness for slayer stamina.

"Hey, Buffy. You look great. Are you coming down soon? If you don't hurry, Anya's going to start opening your presents herself."

Buffy's expression was wry as she slipped in her earrings. "Well, we can't have that, can we, Willow? She'll just have to get her own presents."

Willow snorted in playful disdain as she plopped onto Buffy's bed. "You'd think all that lovely money she makes from Magic Box sales would be enough, but oh no. Honestly, it's like she's got only two topics of conversation: sex and cash."

Buffy shook her head so that her hoop earrings flashed and sparkled in the light. "Let's not forget the men she used to torture and kill."

"Okay, three topics of conversation. Say, speaking of men, when's Riley getting here? Isn't he kinda late?"

Buffy shrugged and turned from the mirror, smoothing down her blouse. "I don't know. He's been all secretive these last few days. He said he had to make a few phone calls but he hasn't told me what it's about."

The two women made their way downstairs to the Summers living room. Hearing Xander's jokes, Dawn's happy chatter, Willow and Tara's girlish giggles as they bent their heads together and watching Anya pick up and shake her presents one by one, Buffy was happier than she'd been for a long time. Glory and the threat she posed seemed very far away at the moment.

Dawn's present was simple enough: a picture of Hank summers with his wife and two little girls. It was in a chintzy frame hand decorated with the seashells found on the beach that same summer when the picture was taken. Dawn made light of her gift by pointing out its cheapness but everyone could see how much the memory meant to her.

Buffy got an odd feeling when she looked at the picture. Dawn hadn't been there. This memory was as false all the rest her little sister possessed. But looking up at Dawn's face, with its studied expression of teenage indifference, she did her best to smile. "It's beautiful. Thanks, Dawn." Buffy's hug was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "I'll get it."

"No way. You're the birthday girl. I'll see who it is." Dawn ran towards the door and opened it, grinning in delight at the figure who stood outside. "Well, look who finally decided to show up."

"Hey, Dawn. Sorry I'm late. Where's Buffy?"

The younger Summers girl stepped back so he could enter. "She's in the living room opening her presents." As she shut the door Dawn shouted, "Buffy! Riley's here!"

Riley entered the living room, pulling off his jacket, and Buffy's eyes widened. He was wearing a dark blue shirt of shimmering material and form-fitting slacks. He looked incredibly handsome and her breath came a little faster as she took in the sight of him.

Dawn was equally admiring. "Wow, Riley, you look even better than the birthday girl."

"Is that why you were late? You needed the extra time to make yourself look beautiful for Buffy?"

Anya's outspoken comment didn't go unchallenged. "Anya, only women make themselves beautiful. Guys just basically throw on the first thing they find in their closets."

Anya ran an admiring eye over Riley. "Speak for yourself, Xander. Riley clearly took a little more effort than that. You could learn a thing or two from him."

"Since when do you have any complaints about my clothes?"

"Well, since you asked—" she replied in a thoughtful tone.

"Guys, could you remember this is Buffy's special day?" After chiding the two, Dawn sat down next to her sister on the couch. "What'd you get Buffy for her birthday, Riley?"

The hazel-eyed man pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket and extended it to his girlfriend. "Here, Buffy. Happy birthday." Buffy tore off the shiny paper and opened the red velvet box underneath it. Inside was a silver heart-shaped locket.

As she pulled it out by its chain, Anya snatched it from her hands. "Oh my goodness. It's so lovely! I wish it were mine." She squealed and clutched it to her chest and then noticed everyone else's amused stares. "Oh, like you weren't all thinking it."

Giles murmured, "I'm fairly sure I wasn't thinking it."

Xander pulled it gently from Anya's grasp and handed it to Riley. "I got it engraved. It reads 'To the Slayer of my heart.' " He unhooked the chain and clasped it around Buffy's neck. There was a moment of nice, comfortable silence as they kissed.

"Now that's what I call a gift," Anya murmured enviously. "Xander, why don't you get me things like that?"

Xander pulled her into a hug and asked, "Well, when is your birthday, oh tactless one?"

The ex-demoness blinked and furrowed her brows. "Um, you know, I'm not really sure."

"You mean it's so far back you don't remember?" The shy comment came from Tara.

"No, it's just we weren't big on celebrating people's birthdays back then. Most of the time we didn't notice specific days as such so people tended to be kinda fuzzy on their ages. Mothers would tell their kids things like, "Aye, you were born in the year of the great flood that destroyed all the corn, nigh onto ten and a half years now, give o' take.' That sort of thing. Then I became a demon so the trappings of humanity like birthdays became irrelevant so I gradually forgot about mine…"

The talk drifted onto other matters and Buffy and Riley wandered into the kitchen. "This is a great gift, Riley. Thank you. The tiny picture of you inside is so sweet."

"Glad you like it." She leaned against the counter and idly fiddled with the locket. "Now, c'mon. Tell me."

Riley's eyebrows lifted in obvious puzzlement as he heard her question. "About what?"

"Why you've been so secretive the last few days. You've been gone a lot and I haven't seen you around much except during training." A wary expression flew onto her face as an ugly suspicion came into her mind. "You haven't been going to—"

Riley drew back; he was hurt by the accusation but he couldn't really blame her for it. "No, Buffy, absolutely not. That's over and done with, I swear."

"Then what is it?"

He reached out and touched the locket lightly. "Well, I had to get a few added details for my little gift."

She raised her eyebrows and looked down at the small heart. "How long does it take to get things engraved?"

"It wasn't just the engraving. I-I had a tracking device implanted in it."

Her eyes widened at that and she gaped at him. "A tracking device? How? Why?"

He grinned at her uncertainly; he couldn't tell whether she was riled or simply disturbed at the news. "The how isn't hard, Buffy. You pick up these kinds of tricks in the military. As for the why, that's easy. I worry about you. I know, you're the Slayer. But after that vampire stabbed you in the stomach I came to realize that you're not invincible. You can be injured, maybe even killed.

"And if you ever got wounded too badly to call for help, this would let me find you. Wherever you might be." He held his breath and waited for her reaction. He knew Buffy liked to think of herself as all powerful but he wanted her to realize he had done this out of love not because he thought she was weak.

Buffy searched his honest face and saw the love and concern written there. He's just trying to watch out for me. Just like a real boyfriend. Tears came to her eyes for a moment and she blinked to clear them away. "Thanks, Riley. I appreciate it. I mean that." She stood up on tiptoe and pulled his head down for a deep and thorough kiss.

When they parted, he smiled at her gratefully. She wasn't going to be upset. He had a feeling his other news wouldn't go down as well. He glanced through the open doorway. "Have you told her yet?"

Buffy's expression became slightly mulish. God, why did he have to bring this up now? And she'd been in such a good mood a moment ago. This was the last conversation she wanted to have today. Couldn't she just forget about this for one day? "Now's not the best time, Riley."

"The best time for what?" Dawn stood there holding a couple of plates, her eyes darting between the two of them. They were talking behind her back again, she just knew it by their strained expressions.

Riley spoke carefully, keeping his eyes on Buffy's face. "This is something I have to discuss with everybody, Dawn. Come outside."

"Riley—"

"Buffy, everybody's here. Now's as good a time as any to tell them." Striding back into the living room, Riley spoke to the assembled gathering. "Everybody, could you listen up for a minute? I've been in contact with my old unit. I told them about the Glory situation."

Joyce Summers was immediately alarmed and she looked at Mr. Giles as if for clarification. "Situation? There's a situation?"

Buffy sighed. It looked like a normal birthday was out of the picture. "Mom, that girl who came to the house a few weeks ago—remember her? I said she was dangerous and evil. Well, it's worse than that. Some of Giles's fellow Watchers came into town and told us she's a god. A hellgod."

Joyce's face blanched. "A god? Sh-she's a god? As in—god?"

"Yeah. She's anxious to get her hands on something called the Key. That's why she was here. She thought I had the Key or could get to it and she's determined to do whatever it takes to get it."

"The Key? What's that, Buffy? Do you have it hidden somewhere? Where is it 'cause I sure haven't seen anything Keylike lying around." Dawn ran over all of Buffy's better possessions in her head. She was always borrowing Buffy's stuff (usually without asking her first). She'd have known if there was something new that Buffy didn't want her to touch.

Buffy stared at her younger sister. Random memories flew through her mind. Afternoons spent shopping for school clothes at the mall. Family evenings playing board games. Feeding baby Dawn when her mom was too busy. Holding Dawn when she cried for a week after their father left.

Dawn squirmed under Buffy's scrutiny. "Buffy, why're you looking at me like that? You're creeping me out."

"It's you, Dawn. You're the Key. You're what Glory wants."

"What?" Dawn's gaze swung around the room. Everyone was either staring at her or trying to avoid it. "That's—I don't get it. What are you talking about?"

Buffy moved closer to her as she made her explanation. "It's what we've all known for a couple of weeks now. You're, well, you're really special. You're pure energy that was fashioned by these monks using a spell. They gave you flesh and made you human. You're the Key. That's why we've been acting so protective around you."

Dawn shook her head as she backed away from Buffy. This was stupid, crazy talk. Buffy had lost her mind. But the concerned looks from everybody else told her this was the truth. "I don't believe you. You're lying! It doesn't make any sense. I'm real! I'm human!"

"It's not crazier than the other stuff that goes around this place."

"Anya, you're not helping." Xander frowned at his girlfriend.

But the ex-demon plowed onward. She wasn't unaware of Dawn's distress; she sincerely thought it might help Dawn to know she wasn't that unusual.

"Xander, I'm just pointing out that Dawn is in excellent company. I'm an ex-demon, Willow and Tara are lesbian witches—"

"Wiccans," Willow chimed in.

"Whatever. Giles is part of a secret society that fights evil like the superheroes in those comic books you've got under the bed. Dawn's sister is a Slayer and Riley used to catch demons as part of his nightly routines. Dawnie is part of a very special group. She should be thrilled."

"Thrilled? To find out I'm not real?!" Dawn was on the verge of screaming.

Joyce flew to hug her. "You are real, honey. You're real in every way that matters. You're my daughter and I love you. You're my little pumpkin belly."

Buffy hugged her, too. "Yeah, Dawn. You're my bratty kid sister and don't let anyone tell you any different."

Everyone jumped in now, even Riley. Dawn's lips quivered as she fought not to cry and then she sniffed hard, rubbing her nose. "This is what you guys have been hiding from me, huh?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Buffy replied guiltily.

Dawn thought for a moment. "Wait, if I'm so important to Glory, why's she only showing up now? Where's she been all my life?"

Buffy bit her lip while she considered her answer. The hardest part was over but there was no telling how Dawn would react to the rest of the truth. Still, she was taking this rather better than expected. "Actually, she has been around all your life. See, the monks only cast the spell recently and they threw in memories of you and your life. They didn't just do it to you. They did it to everyone around you so you'd fit into our lives and no one would be any the wiser. It was a perfect way to fool Glory. She'll never dream of looking for her Key in the body of a young girl."

"Recently? How recent is recently? I mean, ho-how old am I really?" There was a short silence.

"Just a little over four months," Buffy gently answered.

"Oh." Dawn sat down hard on the couch. She picked up the gift she'd given Buffy earlier and stared at it for several long moments. Buffy sat beside her uncertainly. She could imagine the thoughts that were running through Dawn's head. "This day at the beach—it didn't really happen, did it?"

"Of course it happened. Just—"

"Just not with me in it," she finished in a flat voice. She swallowed heavily and put the picture down onto the couch again. "Do-do you think Dad remembers me?" Her voice was so small and lost when she asked. The other Summers women exchanged a helpless look.

"I'm sure he does, sweetie," her mother replied. "As much as he remembers any of us."

Dawn's mouth twisted up at that comment; her expression was rueful as she added, "That's probably not much seeing as he didn't even send a card for Buffy's birthday. I guess whether he remembers me or not wouldn't make any huge difference in our lives."

A palpable wave of relief swept through the room. Dawn wasn't going to freak. She seemed to be taking the revelation of her existence tolerably in stride. There were bound to be difficulties later on, of course. Most teenagers underwent identity crises as they tried to figure out their place in the world and Dawn's self image had now received a powerful blow. But if she got over the initial hump as quietly as this then maybe she could deal with whatever else came her way.

"Now that that's out of the way, I have to tell you what arrangements I've made for Dawn's safety." Everyone looked up at Riley's words. They had forgotten about his announcement in the light of everything that had just passed.

"I managed to get in touch with my old unit. It took me days to locate them since they're deep in the jungle and it took a hell of a lot of talking to convince them we're up against a god. Even after everything they've witnessed, it was tough for them to deal with the concept of a flesh-and-blood god. But I finally managed to persuade them—especially after I mentioned that there's another army headed towards Sunnydale. We've made arrangements to get the Key to safety."

"Riley, what did you do?"

Her boyfriend didn't falter under Buffy's suspicious gaze. "They're sending a vehicular transport to get you out of Sunnydale. You, your mom and Dawn will be taken to a secret location until we can figure out the best way to neutralize Glory."

Dawn bounced up and down a little on the couch, her earlier unhappiness shelved for the moment. "Cool! Road trip!"

Buffy wasn't as easily swayed. She demanded, "How could you just do something like this without telling me first?"

"I didn't want to say anything until I was sure I'd succeeded. Communications in that part of the world are a little spotty. Besides, I didn't know if my old unit would be able to provide us with the assistance we needed. I had to be sure before I sprang the news. I didn't want to get your hopes up in case I failed."

Buffy automatically found herself vetoing the idea. "Riley, we can't just leave! Dawn and I have school, Mom's got the gallery, I still have to patrol…"

"Glory doesn't care about any of those things. I heard her, Buffy. Do you really think she'll stop her plans or leave Dawn alone just because she's got a big test coming up?" Riley didn't intend to sound so harsh but he wanted to impress on Buffy the seriousness of his decision. He knew Buffy was the Slayer and had faced countless battles. He was also certain that nothing she and her friends could do would count for much in the battle against a god.

Joyce spoke up at this point. "I don't see why we can't stay here, Riley. Glory doesn't know that Dawn's the Key. Doesn't that give us a big advantage?"

"Unless she decides to kill all of us the way she threatened in order to force Buffy to give up the Key. No advantage there."

Buffy pursed her lips and ignored Anya's comment. "Riley, it's not that we don't appreciate your messing with our lives and all but what about my friends?"

Riley looked around at the others. "What about them?"

She gaped in disbelief at her boyfriend. "Are you insane? When Glory finds out I'm gone, she'll start tearing through the others to find out where I am. We can't just leave them here defenseless."

Riley turned to Giles for support. "Mr. Giles, I think the best plan is for Buffy and her family to leave BEFORE Glory goes ballistic. I just didn't see any need for the rest of you all to give up your lives here. You can all stay and carry on in Buffy's absence. We'll come back when the threat is over."

"Riley's right, you know."

Buffy glared at this calm assertion from her Watcher. She had thought that he would be the most likely to back her up. "He-he's right? I should simply pick up my things and abandon my friends?"

Giles smiled gently at his charge. "No, not about leaving us behind. I mean about leaving Sunnydale. If we stay here, waiting for Glory to strike, chances are great that she will attack and kill one of us, possibly more. It will be impossible for you to protect us while keeping an eye on your sister."

Anya was quick to support Giles. "Yes, look at all those people Glory's already put in the mental wards at the hospital. You weren't able to prevent that or help any of those people once they lost their marbles."

Buffy didn't bother answering her. "Giles, you talk about not leaving you behind. You don't know how long we may be gone. Are you really prepared to come with us and leave the Magic Box for Anya to run?"

"Hey! What's wrong with me running it? I'm much better with money than he is!" Anya thrust her chin out in defiance and then abandoned the pose when she realized no one was paying her any attention.

"Buffy, as your Watcher I'm obligated to aid you in all your struggles against such creatures as Glory. I shall most certainly be accompanying you on your travels."

Willow walked up to Buffy. She hugged the blonde tightly with one arm as she answered, "It's not just Giles, Buffy. I've been with you from the beginning so I go where you go. That's a given. I'll leave messages for the people who count, pack my bags and be ready to go when Riley's ride gets here."

"Am I included in that trip?"

Willow grinned at her lover's quiet question and pulled her closed, pecking her on the cheek. "You know it, girlfriend. Like I'd leave you behind."

"As if you could," Tara replied and kissed her full on the lips.

"Count me in, too, Buffy. Like you told those Watchers, I'm part of the unit. No way you and soldier boy get to take the Magical Mystery Tour and ditch the rest of us," Xander moved to stand by his two best friends.

"That settles it. If Xander's going, I'm going. He needs me to look after him."

Willow raised her eyebrows in mock surprise at Anya's bold assertion. "You're really prepared to go and leave behind your wonderful money and the store? What about your customers? Your profit margins? Your devotion to the American way of capitalism?"

Anya tossed her head in dismissal. Sarcasm was usually wasted on her as she was too forthright to understand its subtlety. "As if any of that is as important as taking care of my Viking stud. Besides, I'd miss all those terrific orgasms he gives me."

Xander flushed beet red and started chattering to cover up Anya's candid answer. "I guess that makes it official then. All of the Scoobies are coming along with. Guess you're stuck with us. Hope that transport of yours has plenty of room in it."

Riley smiled. "Plenty of room. Not much privacy, though. If Anya's expecting orgasms on this trip, she's going to be sharing them with everybody else on board." Hearing everybody chuckle at Xander's obvious discomfiture, he glanced at his girlfriend. Buffy had become oddly silent after her friends started talking. Would she still put up a fight about leaving now that all of them were committed to standing by her?

Buffy looked around the room at her assembled friends and family. She had never doubted their loyalty to her and to each other. But it was deeply moving to hear them state their determination to throw in their lots with hers. She blinked back tears and hugged Willow. "You guys."

In moments, they all gathered around her, hugging her in turn, reassuring her of their commitment and love. Riley was impressed; the resiliency of the Summers women never failed to amaze him. But Buffy's friends were equally surprising. They were as brave as any of his fellow fighters in the Initiative.

Noticing his distance from the group, Buffy gently disengaged herself and walked over to him. Winding her arms around the tall Iowan, she tilted her head to look into his face. "When does this transport of yours arrive?"

"Four days." Buffy's face took on a slight look of dismay at that quiet declaration. Four days? That would barely give them time to pack and make all the needed plans. Then she smiled.

"Then we better get to the ceremonial eating of cake and ice cream." The party continued for a few short hours after that, a little more sober in tone, perhaps, but no less hopeful for all that. Buffy's extended family were rallying around her as they had done in the past and pledging their undying love.

It was the best birthday gift Buffy ever got.

TBC


	4. Final Strike

"Red sweater?"

"Check."

"Extra stakes?"

"Check."

"Favorite axe?"

"Check."

"Mr. Gordo?"

"Check and double check."

"Well, I guess that's it, then. Buffy, you are officially packed for the mission." Buffy grinned as she leaned on the suitcase. A little extra push of slayer strength and it clicked shut. She fastened down the snaps and leaned back to survey her handiwork.

Riley had come over to help her with last-minute packing. Dawn had departed earlier to get to what was probably her last day of school for a very long while and he had been counting on spending some time alone with her sister. It had been weeks since they'd had sex and he was hoping that being with Buffy in her bedroom might put her in the mood or at least make the suggestion agreeable. Since Buffy had seen him in that vampire nest, she hadn't touched him in anything like a sexual manner and he hadn't wanted to push. The shame he felt at his own behavior had been too strong.

But after her birthday she had been so much more tender than before and he was hoping that she had at last forgiven him. He reached forward and pulled her close to him.

Buffy moved automatically closer and then stepped out of range. "Riley, we can't."

He swallowed and tried to hide his hurt feelings. "Buffy, I thought you said you trusted me." Okay, maybe he needed to try harder. That sounded a little whiny to him.

Buffy sat on the bed without looking at him. "It's not that."

He sat beside her and covered one slender hand with his broader one. "Then what is it? Are-are you still angry about those…?" He couldn't bring himself to finish. His recent misdeeds were still a sore subject, one they didn't speak of openly, but they still hung in the air between them.

She shook her head in denial. "No, Riley. My mom is still here. She's right next door. Do you really want her to hear us?"

Riley snatched his hand away as if he'd been stuck with a pin. Oh right. Mrs. Summers. You idiot. "Sorry. I-I didn't realize. But if she weren't here, would you…I mean…"

Buffy slid away from him and stood up. "You know, I should go help Mom. She probably has a few things she needs to pack away, too." She avoided his eyes as she stepped quickly out of the room.

Riley sat there for several moments longer. She didn't hate him but her love had taken a severe blow. He could still see doubt in her eyes sometimes when she kissed him. But she never failed to include him in her plans; she was determined to let him know about any new developments in her life. She was trying so hard to please him and keep him close.

He wondered if she had finally agreed to this extreme measure of running away from Glory just to make certain he wouldn't take off to the jungle as he had once threatened. He inwardly winced. How could he have thought threatening her would be the way to make her love him? You couldn't coerce people into loving you. It had been a nasty way to behave and even now he felt a little ill whenever he remembered it.

Did Buffy stay with him because of love or desperation? She often said she loved him. But since that night, a shadow would cross her eyes when she looked at him. Buffy thought he didn't notice but he did. She probably did love him. She just couldn't bear to touch him, not yet anyway.

Well, dammit, he wasn't some horny teenager! He wasn't going to demand sex as a way for her to prove her love. She'd come to him when she was ready. He'd just have to wait until then. Riley sighed and glanced at the open door. She'd been gone a while and he hadn't heard anything from her mother's bedroom.

He straightened up as she came into the room clutching the phone. Her face was frozen in a look of empty shock and an awful dread came over him. In an instant he ran to her side. "Buffy? What's wrong? What is it? What's happened?"

She looked up at him almost as if she'd forgotten he was there. "It's Mom. She's—I think she's—she's lying on her bed and…I called the ambulance." He stared at her and then raced over to the Mrs. Summers bedroom.

The older woman was lying half on, half off the bed. She was fully clothed and staring up at the ceiling. She looked peaceful as if she'd just lain down to rest for a moment. But nobody rested like that. God, that unblinking stare. And she hadn't moved when he came into the room. He paused for a moment in the door almost as if afraid of startling her. Then he moved gently to her side and grasped one of her wrists.

She was cold and there was no pulse under his fingers. Her hand was still fluid in movement; she hadn't been dead long, maybe half an hour at most. The end had been abrupt judging by her posture and the lack of surprise or pain on her face. He moved his hands to close her eyes.

"Don't!" The word was loud in the eerie silence and Riley jumped a little. Buffy was standing behind him. She still maintained her death grip on the phone.

Riley walked up and embraced her and they stood there for a moment, silent in the face of death. "Buffy, she's…"

"No! I mean, we have to wait for the ambulance. They'll be here any moment and they'll know what to do. They'll take care of her."

Riley's heart sank at the frantic denial underneath the strained words. He was certain Joyce was dead and beyond help. But perhaps this was just some sort of vegetative state. Maybe the trained paramedics would be able to perform some miracle.

Buffy twisted out of his arms and flew downstairs. He was stunned at the speed with which she moved and wondered if she were running away from the awful sight behind him. The next moment he heard what her Slayer's ears had picked up before his: people were arriving at the door.

"She's upstairs. You'll see her…." The paramedics had arrived and Riley stepped quickly out of the doorway to allow them to pass. They moved the woman from the bed and began working on her, propping her mouth open and taking her vitals.

Buffy stood just behind him and he pulled her into his arms again. This time she stayed rigidly in his embrace, her unwavering gaze fixed on the barely seen woman on the floor. She answered their questions automatically without tears. Once again, she didn't seem to notice he was there.

After several breathless moments, the paramedics straightened. "Okay, call it," one man said. He stood up and walked over to Buffy. "Miss Summers, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother is dead. She probably felt very little pain…"

Buffy didn't move from Riley's arms. She barely even seemed to breathe as the man's words rolled over her. After the men had left, she pried herself away from him. The silence was oppressive as she shut the door of her mother's bedroom.

"Riley, I have—I have to make some calls. Will you stay…?"

"Of course. Is there anything you want me to do?" She shook her head numbly and he didn't press her. All she wanted was company and that he was happy to provide.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. The body was carted away in the blind efficient way these things were done. Buffy had gone to the school to pick up Dawn. The teenager had broken down crying in the hallway with all her schoolmates looking on. She'd sobbed brokenly for several minutes before she settled down enough for Buffy to take her to the hospital.

Why's it taking so long? Wait, time is relative. Yeah, isn't that part of the theory of relativity? Seconds, minutes, hours—those are the things that people came up with. The gods didn't make up a system of counting time. We did that. The thoughts were inconsequential and had little to do with the matter at hand, but Willow couldn't help them. To think about what was happening in another room, what the morgue attendants were doing to Joyce, wasn't something she could touch on for more than a minute at a time.

As usual, one discretion-challenged ex-demon had no problem bringing up the unspeakable. "Are they gonna cut the body open?"

They all froze in shock as they stared at her. "Oh my god! Would you just stop talking? Just shut your mouth, please!" Willow cried. She had never liked Anya and goodness knows she had tried to for Xander's sake. But at this moment she positively hated the insensitive blonde. She wanted to hit her with a fire blast, or some other kind of spell, she was that infuriated.

"But I don't understand. I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean, I knew her and then she's—there's just a body. And I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead any more. It's stupid. It's mortal and stupid. And Xander's crying and not talking and I was having fruit punch and I thought, well, Joyce will never have any more fruit punch _ever_ and she'll never have eggs or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

Her voice cracked at the last word and then she was in tears. Xander hugged her as tightly as she could and Willow was ashamed of herself. Of course Anya was hurting; they all were. She had said what they were all thinking at one moment or another. She simply lacked an internal censor that prevented her from saying things that might upset others.

Willow's face fell in at the thought of Joyce being laid on some cold slab while impersonal hands worked over her. Suddenly she was crying and she soon had companions in her misery. The tears were low and muted in the hospital corridors but for several moments all of Buffy's friends were drowning in grief as they mourned the loss of one of their own.

Buffy, Riley and Dawn sat across from them. Dawn bit her lip and rocked back and forth, glancing down the corridor where they had taken what was left of her mother. She didn't understand it either. Mom was all right! She was all right yesterday, last night and this morning when I left for school. What happened? How could the doctors have missed something like this? Why didn't Buffy _hear_ anything? What was she doing when my mother was dying?

The thoughts were unfair. She knew it and she struggled against them. Buffy had found her mother dead and she had no idea what that must have been like for her. She glanced at her sister. Buffy's face was white and tearless and her eyes were opened wide, wide, as if she were afraid to close them. What did she see when she found Mom? What did Mom…look like? Why doesn't she cry?

A tall mental patient in a hospital gown was shuffling down another corridor when he saw them huddled together. The patient cocked his head, running his gaze aimlessly over the Slayerettes hunched on their chairs. As he lit on Dawn, a glimmer of awareness flickered in the man's vacant eyes.

"Shiny girl," he mumbled, his eyes fixed on the younger Summers child. "Shiny, shiny girl." he reached up and scratched absently at the mark on his forehead and the former Knight of Byzantium was led away.

It was just an aneurysm. Nothing supernatural. Nothing magical. No mystical attack by Glory or one of her minions. Only a ticking time bomb in the head that had gone off silently and fatally while Joyce had been planning to accompany her daughters away from a dangerous threat. It was something none of them could have anticipated. And now the final preparations had to be made.

Buffy bustled around trying to do a dozen things at once. But there was simply no way to speed up these things. Burial clothes had to be picked out, a coffin chosen, certificates needed to be filled out: all the minutiae and forms to be dealt with and followed.

They all rallied around Buffy, all the Scoobies. She refused to cling to anyone, though. She wouldn't rest and she wouldn't cry, at least not when Riley was around. At one point, she drew him aside quietly and inquired about the military transport.

He was taken aback; he had almost forgotten about it. He was certain she had. But now, more than ever, she was bent on protecting what was left of her family.

The transport wouldn't be in town for two more days yet. That was a plus. A burial wasn't something you could rush through.

The funeral was simple. At such short notice, there was barely time to inform Joyce's friends and co-workers about the ceremony. Buffy hardly heard the words of the priest, as she stood upright by the grave.

Riley himself felt antsy and nervous. He wasn't certain why. Perhaps with departure so imminent, he was merely anxious to be gone. The thought was disrespectful but he couldn't help it.

But no, there was something else bothering him. All throughout the ceremony, he had experienced the disturbing sense of being watched. He kept telling himself that it was an idle notion borne of sleeplessness and sorrow. But his military training was too deeply ingrained for him to dismiss the feeling entirely. Time and again he cast his head up and scanned the trees for any sign of spies. But there was nothing.

As the mourners began dispersing, Buffy finally noticed his anxiety. "Riley, what is it?"

He shook his head, peering with careful eyes around the cemetery. I'm not sure. It's probably nothing."

Buffy watched him for several seconds and then appeared to accept his explanation. "Riley, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure. Anything. Just name it."

She threw a quick glance back at where the machine was shoveling dirt on her mother's grave. "I-I want to stay here for a bit. Will you see Dawn home with the others and stay with her until I come back?"

Riley opened his mouth to refuse. The nervousness that had almost disappeared a moment ago returned with a vengeance. He was certain they were under surveillance and he didn't want to leave her alone here. One look at her pale face, however, and he reluctantly nodded. "All right. Come home soon, will you?"

"As soon as I can. I just need some time."

Buffy watched them pile into the car and drive away. She watched the gravediggers finish their task. She stood there like a statute as the sun slowly angled across the sky and sank in the west. Then she felt cold fingers wind in her own. "I came as soon as I could."

She looked up at the dark-haired vampire beside her. "Angel." Her face crumpled and at last she cried. She wept like a child and he held her without speaking while the storm swept through her.

Angel didn't offer any platitudes or soothing words. He didn't tell her how she would feel better or that the pain would lessen in time. He simply let her weep without stopping.

They rested underneath a tree, neither speaking for long moments. Buffy felt comfortable in Angel's arms. But there wasn't the pull of attraction there had once been. It was because of Riley and Angel seemed to sense it. He made no real attempt to get closer; he simply allowed one arm to drape casually over her shoulder.

He whispered quietly. "Willow called. She said it was an aneurysm."

"Yeah. They said these things just happen. Makes you wonder what we pay doctors for, huh?"

"Do-do you want me to stay in town for a bit?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, Riley's people made arrangements to have us leave town for awhile. It's complicated and really long-winded and I wish we'd kept in touch more so you wouldn't be at a loss like this. But we won't be able to talk to you or any of the L.A. gang for a long time."

She snuck a sidelong glance into his face. He was still as handsome as ever and he would always be the first man she'd ever loved. That was over now but a tiny part of her couldn't help hoping that he'd miss her.

"I-I understand." This is why he'd left her, after all, so that she could find love with an ordinary guy. He just hadn't expected to be replaced quite so easily. Whatever danger she was in, surely she could have run to him and his team. They would have protected her just as well as this Finn guy.

Angel firmly pushed the thought away. He glanced at Buffy again and noticed something shiny around her neck. At first he had thought it was the silver cross he gave her. But this was another piece of jewelry altogether. Buffy noticed his look and couldn't resist teasing him.

"Do you like it? Riley gave it to me for my birthday."

He managed a tight smile. "Yeah. It's very pretty. Could you explain something to me though?"

"What's that?"

He touched it lightly. "Why is it beeping?"

Her face took on a comical expression. "You can hear—oh right. Vampiric hearing. Uh, it's actually part jewelry, part tracking device. For the Slayer who has everything—my very own bit of spy equipment."

"Ah. This his way of checking up on you?"

"More like keeping track of me," she countered sharply. "He wants to be able to find me if I'm lost or injured. It's the perfect boyfriend gift." She smirked seeing the flash of jealousy on his face. That's right, Mr. You're-the-Only-Girl-I've-Ever-Loved. You didn't give me anything for my birthday. So what do you think of that?

Angel couldn't think of anything to say in response to that. Yes, he hadn't gotten her anything for her lately but he had given her a silver cross. He thought _that_ was be the perfect Slayer gift. Looks like he'd been trumped.

Abruptly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He went utterly still as he sniffed the air around him. The scents of human males wafted to him, clear in the night air. They should have made more noise but they were moving stealthily through the darkness—too much so to be up to any good. He leaned his head down to Buffy's ear as if he meant to kiss her. "Buffy."

Instantly responsive to his change in mood, she snapped to alertness. "What?"

He whispered softly, "I think we've got unwanted company. There are several human males making their way towards us. I smell a heavy concentration of metal on them."

She stared into his eyes. Disbelief, shock and finally rage swept over her face and she hissed, "The Knights of Byzantium."

It was Angel's turn to feel shock. "The Knights of Byzantium? They're here?"

She pulled away from him and assumed a fighting stance as her gaze swept the site. "I take it you've heard of them."

"Yeah, I crossed paths with them briefly while touring France. Disagreeable bunch of fanatics. Why are they here in Sunnydale?"

As the first of the medieval soldiers approached, she said, "I really don't have time to go into it now. Let's just say a mystical Key and a whorishly dressed hellgod are involved."

Angel stared blankly at the explanation and then stood back to back with her as the Knights closed in. The soldiers hesitated briefly as they drew near; they had expected to find the Slayer alone and instead she was with a strapping male. However, it was just the two of them against a dozen and the man appeared to be unarmed. Taking care of them should prove easy.

One of the knights thrust his sword at Angel's torso. The vampire easily dodged the blow and with superhuman speed grabbed the man's wrist and twisted the weapon from him. The man gaped in astonishment at his empty hand and looked up just in time to see the hilt of the weapon brought down with crushing force on his skull.

As the battle raged, Angel began to be uneasy. The men had fallen back and regrouped when they saw he wasn't to be easily defeated but now they made no more killing rushes. Instead they feinted, swung and ducked back. They swiftly moved to intercept Buffy and Angel whenever it appeared they would escape from the spot and finally it hit him.

"Buffy! They're not trying to kill us!"

"Looks like it from here!" she grunted as she lashed out with her foot, cracking her fighter's kneecap.

"No, I mean, they're trying to keep us here!"

Buffy paled and her eyes met Angel's as she understood. Oh no. "Angel, I've got to get out of here. Can you handle them?"

Angel grinned ferociously. "No problem, love. It's been awhile since I've danced with the Knights. It'll be just like old times."

"Great. Meet me at the house." The knights redoubled their efforts as they realized Buffy intended to escape. But with Angel's help she quickly broke through and took off at a dead run towards the house on Revello Drive.

Riley, Xander and Giles sat around the living room. The women were upstairs in Mrs. Summers's bedroom. Occasionally, they could hear their voices rise and fall but nothing else. No one wanted to talk or seemed to know what to do. Riley felt he should say something but he'd never had to deal with the death of a civilian before. Besides the apprehensive feeling he'd experienced at the graveyard simply wouldn't go away. If anything, it was getting stronger…

"Riley, why do you keep staring out of the window? Buffy will be here soon. You needn't worry about her."

The Iowan looked up at Giles's words and shook his head. "That's not it. All throughout the ceremony, I kept feeling as if there were eyes trained at the back of my skull—or a gun. When you've been in the military as long as I have, you learn not to ignore your instincts."

Giles approached him with alarm written on his face. "Good Lord. You don't think—could it be Glory or-or one of her minions?"

Riley shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't certain he could sense the presence of demons like Buffy could. All at once, he fiercely wished that she were here. Why was she taking so long?"

"I think we should be prepared. Xander, you and Giles get some weapons out of the chest. I'm going to go out and see if I can't find…" Suddenly there was a crash and then a piercing scream came from upstairs. The men looked at each other and then charged towards the stairs. There was a moment of confusion as three large male bodies bumped together in the effort to get up the stairway.

A moment later, another large body, this one clad in chain mail, came hurtling through the air. He hit the upstairs wall and came tumbling down. He collided with the trio and they all went down in a heap.

For several seconds, there was utter confusion as Riley, Giles and Xander wrestled with the Knight of Byzantium. The knight brought his elbow up in a vicious jab that connected with Xander's ribcage. The air went out of his lungs and he yelped in pain. As his hold loosened, the knight whipped out a dagger and sank it into Riley's stomach. The Iowan grunted and stared down in shock at the hilt protruding from his belly.

There was another scream from upstairs. Startled by the noise, Giles was distracted long enough for the knight to club him senseless with one mailed fist.

Buffy was only a block away when she heard her sister's scream rend the air. Redoubling her speed, she approached just in time to see Dawn being carried out of the house. "Buffy!"

The large man holding her was trying to keep her still and Buffy ran up to him and slugged him hard in the face. Her anger and grief fueled her punch and the man fell like a stone, dragging Dawn with him. "Dawn, are you all right?"

Dawn struggled out of his loosened grip, her face still blotchy and wet with tears. Then she looked over Buffy's shoulder and her mouth opened to cry out a warning. Buffy swung around and saw what had caught her sister's attention.

More men were appearing from all over the street, each wearing that ridiculous chain mail. How can they wear things like that in this heat? "It's not you we're after, Slayer. Simply give us the Key and we'll leave."

The man speaking fastened his eyes on Dawn and Buffy's hands clenched reflexively. She didn't know how they'd learned of it, but the Knights knew the truth. She glanced about her, calculating the odds of a pitched battle here in the street. There were about two dozen that she could make out. There were too many of them and she had no weapons. As the men surrounded her, raising their swords, she threw up her fists. She wasn't letting her sister go without a fight.

Suddenly the men were swept aside as if a giant hand had mown them down and Buffy looked up to see Willow and Tara holding hands in the doorway. The wiccans were staring at the warriors and Buffy could _feel_ their magic as it blew past her, tumbling the soldiers like so many bowling pins.

Yay girl power! She picked up a dropped sword and began slowly pacing towards them. "Boys, you picked the wrong day to screw with me. I buried my mother today and I was hoping for some grief time but you couldn't let me mourn in peace. Now I ask you—is that chivalrous behavior?"

For a moment, there was silence. And then the knights leaped up ready to take her on. They didn't know about the magic that had just hit them and they didn't care. They were on a mission to destroy the Key and they weren't about to let a bunch of women stop them.

However, Giles came staggering out of the house, phone in hand. "I think you gentlemen might like to know that I've alerted the authorities to your presence. Unless you want to explain to them why you're carrying antique weapons in public, I suggest you depart at once."

The men in chain mail hesitated. Hearing the wail of sirens in the distance, they seemed to reach an unspoken agreement. They began to melt away into the adjacent trees, hauling away their unconscious comrade. In moments, not a single one was visible.

Buffy hugged her sister hard and pulled her back into the house. Giles gestured at the weapon and said, "You might want to hide that before the ambulance get here."

She nodded sharply and looked around. "Ambulance? I thought it was the police. What's happened?"

"The women appear to be unscathed. I was knocked unconscious for a minute or two and Xander received a severe knock in the ribs. But it's Riley I'm concerned about."

Hearing the anxiety underneath his voice, Buffy's throat closed up. "Riley? Why? What's happened to him?" She suddenly realized her tall boyfriend was very conspicuous by his absence. Without waiting for an answer, Buffy ran into the house.

She stopped, terrified, at the awful tableau spread before her. Anya was sitting next to Xander, trying to hold him without hurting his ribs. Xander was sitting up, holding onto his side, next to a silent Riley coiled on the floor. She fell to her knees beside him and touched him lightly on the arm. "Riley?"

He lifted glazed eyes to hers and shifted slightly and that's when she saw the hilt of the dagger sunk into his stomach. Her hand instinctively darted towards it only to be caught by Xander's. "Don't. I wanted to but Giles warned me…Riley could bleed to death." He looked at her horror-stricken face and noted the dried tracks of tears. "He'll be alright, Buff. It's a gut wound and the ambulance is on its way."

She stroked Riley's sweaty brow. "I should have been here. I could have stopped this."

Anya replied, "Even though you weren't here, Willow and Tara hit the Knight in the upstairs bedroom with a burst of telekinesis. You should have seen him go flying through the door. It was far more impressive than Slayer strength."

Buffy felt tears welling up in her eyes again. "I waited too long. I let my guard down, I got distracted and those Dungeons and Dragons dimwits at the cemetery got the drop on me."

Xander stiffened and then gasped as the abrupt tensing caused a sharp twinge to shoot through his side. Right, Xand. No making with the sudden movements. Pain bad. Drugs good. Where the hell are those medics with their nice drugs?

"Buffy, did you say there were more of these Round Table rejects at the cemetery?"

She nodded adding, "Yeah. A bunch of them attacked—" She glanced down at Riley and hastily amended what she had been going to say, "—me at the graveside. When I realized it was just a diversion, I broke free and ran here as fast as I could."

"Trying to separate us from the Slayer, huh? Great ploy for a lot of Lancelot-wannabes. But how did they figure out Dawn was the Key?"

"I don't know, Xander. They're gone for the moment but they might be back. Since mention of the cops drove them off, maybe the presence of hospital security will keep them off."

She bent to kiss Riley's forehead. He hadn't said a word throughout her low conversation with Xander; he merely lay still, breathing in short, panting gasps. She whispered, "Keep still, love. The ambulance will be here soon. They should know the way by now." He managed a pain-filled grimace at the tiny joke and closed his eyes.

Buffy eased herself up carefully and walked out to find Willow and Tara. "Buffy, the ambulance is here. What do we tell them?"

She patted Willow on the arm. "Unless they ask for specifics, nothing. Just that he was attacked on the street. Not here. We don't need that kind of attention." As Riley was carted away with Xander and Giles bringing up the rear, Buffy lowered her voice and spoke to Willow. She didn't have much time. "Wills, I met Angel in the cemetery."

"Ang—!" Willow squeaked.

"Sssshhh! Not so loud!" Buffy hissed.

The redhead lowered her voice, glancing uneasily in Riley's direction. "What did Angel want?"

"You called him—and thanks, by the way, I really appreciate it—so he came to pay his respects. The knights caught the two of us there and Angel held them off while I escaped. The thing is, I told him to met me here and he hasn't show up yet so—"

"So you want me to watch out for him. Gotcha. Will do. Do you want him to meet you at the hospital?"

Buffy considered this for only a second and then reluctantly rejected the idea. "No. Riley doesn't need to see Angel and I haven't been hurt so Angel doesn't need to look out for me. Just tell Angel what happened here. Don't tell him about Dawn being, well, you know."

Buffy, Anya and Dawn climbed into Mrs. Summers's car—an unfortunate legacy of her death—and followed the ambulance.

Angel hadn't enjoyed himself like this in a long time. A few of the warriors dueling with him had tried to take off after Buffy. Turning their backs on him proved to be a huge mistake as he effortlessly caught up to them, knocked them out or threw them into their other comrades. He received at least three vicious sword thrusts but the high of battle was such that he hardly noticed. The only thing missing was Buffy fighting by his side.

All at once, as if by some pre-arranged signal, the knights froze and retreated into the shadows. Angel debated going after them but the pain and blood loss from his wounds were starting to make themselves known. As he prepared to leave, his eye caught sight of a shiny object glinting on the ground. He bent down to pick it up and recognized the locket Buffy had been wearing.

Typical. Expensive locket, cheap clasp. That's about what I'd expect from that boyfriend of hers. Still, she'll probably want it back. He pocketed the small bauble and straightened, grimacing at the agony that attended the movement.

Slowed as he was by his injuries, he didn't discern the swift movement behind him until it was too late. He swung around and the last thing he saw was a large tree branch coming towards his face.

Xander and Giles's respective injuries had been relatively superficial and Riley's wound tended and dressed but it was clear that the ex-commando was going nowhere for the time being. When she was allowed to see him at last, Buffy was upset to see him looking so pale. His gentle hazel eyes were closed, the lashes dark on his white cheeks. But they flicked open when she ghosted quietly to his bedside. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." She paused briefly. "What did the doctors say?"

"Not to stick knives in my stomach."

Buffy snorted in spite of herself. "And to think Mom only warned me not to run in the house with scissors."

Riley laughed a little, stopping with a short gasp, when the action tugged at his wound. "I heard what you said to Xander. Did those knights hurt you?"

She ducked her head, laying her hand atop his. "Naw. They never touched me."

"I wish I'd been there for you."

A pang of guilt flared when she remembered Angel and she was glad Riley couldn't see her eyes. "And I wish I'd been with you. I was supposed to be protecting Dawn and instead she nearly got caught and you were nearly killed…"

"Nearly being the operative word. Buffy, you can't be everywhere. That's why you've got friends, remember? That's why you've got me." The silence stretched out comfortably between them as Buffy lifted her head and gently ran her hand through his hair. Riley sighed at the tender caress and then his gaze sharpened. "Buffy?"

"Yes?"

He lifted one hand to brush her throat. "Where's the locket? Didn't you have it on at the funeral?"

She glanced down her blouse and her eyes widened. Shit, it must have come off during the fight. She lifted stricken eyes to Riley. "Oh, no. Riley, I'm sorry. It must have fallen or been pulled off and I didn't notice."

"Stop apologizing. You had other things on your mind. When we get back, you can use my watch and find the locket yourself. It should be in the closet with the rest of my things."

She pulled out the timepiece and frowned. "How can your watch help?"

"It's got a built-in tracker. Just press that upper button and you should see a red light that shows you where your locket is. As you get closer to your target, the red light moves until it's dead center in the watch. That means you're right on top of it."

Buffy did as instructed and watched the display silently for a moment. She looked up at Riley and smiled. "Thanks, sweety. You military guys give the best presents." She glanced at the watch. "Uh, Riley? What does it mean when the red light is flashing?"

He raised his eyebrows and looked down at the watchface. "It means the target is…moving." His eyes met hers. "Someone or something's taking it."

An unreadable expression came into her eyes. "The hell they are. That's my birthday present from you and I'm not losing it."

"Buffy, it's just a locket…"

"That you gave me. Don't worry, I'll be back soon." She silenced his protests with a kiss and quickly left the room. He couldn't help fretting at his helplessness as he watched her depart. I'm starting to get worried every time she does that.

It's moving. Somebody's got it. Who? The Knights of Byzantium—or Angel? She picked up one of the hospital phones and dialed her home number. "Hello, you've reached the Sum—" "Hello?" Buffy spoke quickly. "Willow, it's Buffy. Did Angel get in?"

"No, he hasn't. Do you think he's all right?"

Buffy looked down at the timepiece again. "No. No, I don't think so. I've got a feeling—I mean, I always knew when he was in trouble."

"And you think he's in trouble now? What do you want to do?"

She thought hard. This was what she was good at, what she was trained for, and in moments a plan had formed in her mind. "Willow, are you and Tara up for some wiccan action after your spell with the knights this evening?"

The redhead felt a little nervous but was determined not to fail her friend. "You betcha. That was just a little 'kinetic storm. No biggie. What's the plan?"

"Xander, Riley and Giles are still on the sick list, so I'll need you two to help me. Gather some weapons and meet me outside the house."

Buffy hung up the phone and turned around only to bump into Xander. "Xander! Are-are you okay?"

"Just jim dandy—though I never understood that phrase. Who's Jim and why should he be more dandy than say, Joe or Silent Bob? Anyway, what's the haps? What are you and our resident witches up to?"

Buffy chewed her lip and debated telling him. Xander had never liked Angel and she knew how much he approved of Riley as her current boyfriend choice. She wasn't certain she could trust him with this news. But he had overheard her conversation, at least part of it, and she was tired of hiding things from her friends.

"Angel's in town," she stated bluntly.

Xander's eyes turned hostile at the mention of the souled vampire. "Really? What's Deadboy doing here? Didn't he get the idea the last time he crashed Sunnydale that he wasn't welcome?"

"He came to pay his respects. He fought beside me when those knights showed up." She glared at Xander and let that sink in for a minute.

"He was there? How come you didn't mention—oh, right, Riley. I don't think he'd be too happy to know your ex was in town, would he?"

"That's right, Xander, and you're not going to tell him. That's why I'm going off with Willow and Tara."

She had been jogging out of the hospital and was nearly running when they got to the front sliding doors. Xander barely managed to keep up with her and grabbed her arm to halt her progress. "Wait a gosh-darned minute! Riley, Giles and me get hurt protecting Dawn, but Angel shows up so you forget about us? Thanks, Buffy, you're a real pal."

She drew a deep breath and slowly counted to ten. When she turned to face Xander the leashed anger in her gaze was enough to make him quell inwardly. "Xander, if you and the others were still on the sick list, nothing on earth would tear me away from you. But Angel helped me the way he always does—without accusations, grief or bitchiness. You guys are all right, the hospital staff is taking care of you. But Angel's AWOL. He's been missing since we fought those knights and I'm worried that something's happened to him. I'm going to help him and I don't need your permission for that. I know this will hurt Riley when I tell him—"

"Oh, so you are going to tell him. That's a plus." Another cold stare and his mouth snapped shut.

"I'm going to tell him but only after this is over. Riley's injured and doesn't need to hear this right now. I'm going to find Angel and Willow and Tara are going to help." She tried to step through the hospital doors but he blocked her path again. "What?"

"Buffy, I know I may not be in top fighting shape now, but Riley came up with a backup plan in case Glory's scrabby minions jumped us before the transport got here."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. Riley had come up with a backup plan? When? This must have been recently otherwise he would have told her. She had to concede that this was pretty solid thinking; chalk it up to his military background. "So what is this second plan?"

Xander hesitated and glanced back down the hospital corridor. Buffy tapped her foot impatiently; she was anxious to be gone and this was already taking way too long. "What is it now?"

"Don't you think we should tell the others what we're doing?"

Buffy wasn't so certain that was a good idea. Giles would insist on coming and she wanted him to take care of Dawn. "Okay. Tell Giles. But we don't need him to come. He-he should look after Dawn. She's going to need someone…she shouldn't be alone. If I knew what we were getting into, I might let one of you go and I'd stay here with her. As it is…"

"Don't worry, Buffy. I'm sure the G-Man will take good care of the Dawnmeister." Xander stepped back into the corridor and then halted, frowning at her. "You won't take off without me, will you?"

She opened her mouth to retort and then reconsidered. He had every right to mistrust her; she had been about to leave without telling him. "No. But hurry up."

She sat inside the car, every nerve screaming at her to leave. She glanced at the device on her wrist. It was rather oversized and kept slipping around so she had to readjust it constantly. The red blip had stopped moving about three minutes ago. She didn't know whether that was good or bad. Finally she saw Xander hurrying out of the hospital doors. "Drive us to the Magic Box."

"What? Why?" She glanced at the watch again. She wasn't that up on navigating from a little blip but she was fairly certain it wasn't moving anywhere near the Box."

Xander strapped himself in. "It's about that plan Riley came up with. I'll explain on the way."

"Fine. But we still need to meet with Wills and Tara."

"Yeah, you bet. Because they're part of the plan."

Buffy gaped at him. "This plan? Did everybody know about it but me?"

Xander grinned. "Well, we didn't tell Dawn or your mom." He drew in his breath sharply. This was the first time since the funeral that he had talked about Joyce to Buffy. The momentary silence from his slip threatened to grow into something painful and uncomfortable. Unnerved, he slipped into his trademark babbling humor.

"This plan is kinda a last resort plan. A last-ditch-attempt-to-avert-the-apocalypse type of plan. Not that this is apocalypty as such, I mean, we're only up against a hellgod, diseased hobbits and wacky Monty Python knights of Camelot wannabes. We've faced a lot tougher than that." He paused briefly. "You know, like Sunnydale High School."

Buffy sighed and threw the car into gear. Xander blanched, gripping the dashboard. Buffy wasn't the best of drivers usually and now she was anxious about Angel. He hoped they'd make their journey in one piece.

"Goddess…heavy."

"Well, the Glorificus did say…big, hulking…"

"…should have…the others…"

"No, this way…all the honor…to us…the elevator…"

Angel was thrown unceremoniously onto a hard surface and vaguely felt the floor rise underneath him. Where…? Wh-what's happen…? Jesus, my head hurts. Okay, last thought was a little more coherent. Where's Buffy? Have they captured her, too? Concern for his lovely Slayer caused the last vestiges of unconsciousness to dissipate. He began struggling only to realize his entire body was rather skillfully tied with rope. When the elevator stopped, he was hauled out roughly and dragged the rest of the way.

Glory was lying down in her posh suite. It was nothing like the gorgeous flame pits of home that she craved. But it was among the best this dimension had to offer and she would settle for nothing less no matter what rotten world she found herself in. Plus, thanks to her minions bringing her human brains to eat, her terrified neighbors had long since cleared out. No more wretched human offal nearby to disturb her.

She looked up idly as her penthouse suite door flew open. Five of her miserable followers were lugging a large fleshbag and dumped him with intense airs of self-satisfaction at her feet. With irritation, she noticed the thing was bleeding all over her very costly rug. Damn stupid minions. I'm going to flay them for this. Ooh, flaying is always fun. Haven't done that for awhile. "Okay, what is that doing here and why is its hair standing up like that?"

They all began talking almost at once, each tripping over themselves to be the first to inform her of the good news. "Oh great and wonderful Glory, we bring you the Slayer's mate," Jinx intoned, gesturing at the prone figure twisting in its ropes.

"We went to the graveyard after the burial ceremony for the Slayer's mother…"

"…you had said he probably knew where the Key was hidden…"

"…and while observing them, we saw the Knights of Byzantium attack…"

"He fought by the Slayer's side with the strength of ten men…"

"…and when the Slayer ran, and he stayed to fight, we realized that they were both battling with the same purpose—to protect the Key…"

"…then the knights disappeared and left him badly wounded…"

"…and so we took the opportunity to capture him"

Glory had been absently inspecting her nails during these obsequious speeches as if she didn't even register Angel's presence. Finally she got up and approached the bound victim. One of the minions cautioned her, "Be warned, Mistress. He fights like a demon."

She sniffed Angel inquiringly and straightened. "That's because he is a demon."

Confusion appeared on the minions's leprous faces as they glanced at each other. "Demon? How-what kind of demon, effervescent one?"

She clucked her tongue in annoyance. "He's a vampire, you idiots."

The minions were getting more puzzled by the minute. Jinx murmured, "The Slayer's mate is a vampire?"

Glory's patience, never at its best under any circumstances, ran aground at this point. "The Slayer's mate is NOT a vampire! This isn't the Slayer's mate! Can't you scabby little morons do anything right?"

"But he fits your description perfectly, magnificent lord of everything you survey. He is tall."

"Broad."

"Powerful."

"With wide shoulders."

"Rippling muscles."

"Strong thighs."

"Massive, though well-defined, buttocks..."

She waved her hand sharply. "Enough!" She knelt down in front of Angel. "You'll have to excuse them. It's so hard to get good minions these days." She yanked the tape off his mouth. He resisted yelling at the sting and smirked at her instead.

"Yeah, I know what that's like. So since I'm not the guy you're looking for, I'll just be on my way and no hard feelings…"

As he tried to sit up she casually shoved him back onto the floor. He attempted to move again and realized to his growing dismay that his efforts were making no change in his position. This diminutive woman, hardly bigger than Buffy, was holding him pinned to the floor with only one hand and no sign of strain on her pretty face. Those guys were babbling about a Key. Buffy mentioned a Key—and a whorishly dressed hellgod. Uh oh.

"Just a sec, handsome. I'm trying to clear up a few things here. I know the knights are after the Key and I know the Slayer has the Key or knows where to get it. So the question is where does a vampire fit into the picture? Why would the Slayer be fighting with a vampire instead of killing it?"

"I wasn't fighting with the Slayer. I was trying to get close to her so I could kill her. I wanted the credit for taking down a Slayer and I didn't want those knights interfering."

"That is untrue, mighty goddess of shining grace! He was holding the Slayer, patting her shoulders, showing her affection. He was protecting her from the Byzantium warriors, we swear by our paltry lives!"

Angel snarled angrily at them, letting his gameface show. "Don't believe those fools. They've already screwed up once tonight. You said so yourself!"

Glory smiled and there was a chilling menace in the expression. "Oh, they're fools, all right. They stumble, they fall, they lag in carrying out the simplest orders, they make dumbass mistakes but you know what? They never lie to me. They're blindly loyal to me and I love 'em for it." The five who'd mistakenly brought Angel in bowed and groveled in true servile fashion at this praise. Glory threw them a fond look and then continued.

"Vampires, on the other hand, are notoriously deceitful and unreliable. So here's what I'm thinking. The Slayer hid the Key someplace I'd never think to search for it and where better than in the lair, crypt or underground den of one of her sworn enemies?"

"That's just crazy. Why would I or any other vampire help the slayer?" Angel demanded. He really didn't like the way this conversation was going. Glory shrugged and yanked Angel upright by his ropes. He looked down to see his feet dangling several inches off the floor. Oh, this is definitely not good.

"To get protection perhaps. To keep from being staked. I don't know and I don't care. I'm really not interested in the motivations of petty creatures like vampires." With that she hurled him through the air to land on his back across her bed. She was on top of him so quickly he blinked at the movement. She made vampire speed look like turtles sinking through molasses.

"What I want to know is…where is my Key?"

He made another attempt to plead ignorance. "I don't know about any Key, you stupid cow, so let me up—"

Glory shoved his head back and jabbed one sharp-nailed finger _through_ the soft flesh of his stomach. Angel's body went rigid and he gasped at the piercing agony. Glory smiled almost tenderly at him.

"Wrong answer."

Buffy drove carefully. She wanted to press her foot down on the pedal but the cargo they were carrying in the trunk made that a bad idea. She adjusted the watch on her wrist once more as they finally pulled to a stop.

Willow and Tara got out of the car after her as Xander struggled with the bag of weapons they'd brought from the Summers home. There were axes, daggers, a couple of swords and throwing stars as well as a few other sundries. The bag wasn't really heavy, merely cumbersome, and Xander had some difficulty in balancing it. Buffy casually pulled it out of his hands and hefted it onto her shoulder.

They walked over the spacious grounds in front of them and then paused indecisively. "Buffy, what is it?" Willow found herself whispering and she wasn't sure why. There wasn't anybody around that she could see and the clearing was well lighted. This part of Sunnydale was rather high-toned compared to other places. It was just the sort of place where people would want to raise their children. Still, the whole place was giving her a creepy-jeepy vibe.

"I remember this place, I think. This was where that snake demony thing that Glory's minion conjured up was headed after it zipped out of the magic shop."

"Oh." Then "OH!" as all four of them got the same thought at once. They all looked up at the large building towering over them.

This was Glory's lair. It had to be. It was fancy and obviously well above their combined tax brackets. Just the sort of place a Cordelia-Chase inspired deity would hang out. And if Angel was there that meant Glory did have him. The last of her tenuous hope disappeared.

The agony. It was beyond excruciating. Glory had gotten tired of using her fingers to puncture Angel like a piece of embroidery and had graduated to makeshift tools she had about her suite. Knives, broken glass, nail files, the heels of her stiletto shoes, even a couple of hairpins lit with a match had been called into play. At one point, she'd picked up a small bronze statuette and belabored his ribs with it. He was in serious pain and she was just getting warmed up.

"Boy, you really are a glutton for punishment. I don't get why a vampire would help the Slayer like this."

Angel tried to focus on her through the one eye that wasn't swollen. "Told you. Don't know anything… about a Key. I wanted—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you wanted to eat the Slayer. I still don't believe it but you are starting to convince me. Which means that I'm going to wind up staking you and then beat up on some very unhappy minions." Said minions managed to cringe and bow at the same time, a complex gesture Angel would have found interesting if he hadn't been one big agony ball.

Glory picked up a knife and tapped it thoughtfully in her palm. She looked at the wounds that were already starting to heal. "That's what I love about torturing vampires. They heal so quickly. Give 'em an hour and they're ready to go again. But I wonder—if I cut your nuts off, just how long will they take to grow back?"

She waved the blade in front of his eyes and knelt down. The terror barely had time to register in his mind before he heard the door behind him fly open.

"Hi, everybody! Sorry we're late but traffic was a bitch." Buffy stood in the doorway with Willow and Tara. She took in Angel, strung up by his wrists, and a couple of minions who stood frozen in shock at seeing the Slayer on their doorstep. "Darn, they started the party without us. See, they're already playing hit-the-vampire piñata. Speaking of bitches, what are you doing with my vampire?"

Glory straightened and walked around the vampire, shoving his body so that it swayed slightly in its restraints. The hellgod poked Angel with her knife. "_Your_ vampire? My, my, aren't we the possessive sort? And since when do slayers keep vampires as pets anyway? But don't worry, honey. You can have him back just as soon as I have him fixed." She snapped her fingers and her minions surged forward.

Buffy punched one of them, knocking him into what looked like a very expensive lamp. Glory's gleeful expression vanished as the object went crashing to the floor. "Hey!" They all looked up at her angry shout. "Don't do it in here, you jerks! I don't want my things getting ruined."

Buffy's grin was slow and malicious as she took in the expensive furnishings. "Is that a fact?" She turned to the wiccans with her. "Ladies, what say we do a little damage?"

Willow and Tara linked hands. A telekinetic blast erupted from them and threw Glory and her minions along with several costly bits of objets d'art across the room. Buffy drew an axe from the bag and hacked at Angel's chains until he came loose. As he sagged in her grip, she stared in horror at the sight of his mutilated body.

She turned a grim look on the goddess who was already picking herself up from the floor. "You are so going to pay for this." Glory charged towards her and slugged her in the jaw. Buffy crashed into the opposite wall and slid to the floor in a daze.

"I'm going to pay? Oh, I don't think so. But I'm going to take that lamp out of your hide, you piece of human shit." She stomped over to where Buffy lay only to be tripped up by Angel. Before she could recover, he grabbed her hair and smashed her head into the floor with all the strength he had left in him.

She clucked in irritation and slapped him off, hard. The wiccans hurriedly opened the bag they'd brought. Glory brushed herself off and sneered at them. "Ooh, whacha got there? A bag full of tricks?"

"Bag full of knives," Willow spat. Several shiny knives flew out of the bag and towards the hellgod. They tore at her clothes but seemed to do her no damage at all. She swatted at them and the cutting projectiles flew around the room like straight-edged mosquitoes, tearing up everything they touched.

Buffy staggered upright and ran over to where Angel lay prone on the floor. "Girls, I hate to break up the party early, but we're going to have to get out of here now."

She heaved Angel up as Glory surged forward again. "Oh no, you don't, that's my vampire!"

Willow snapped, "Thicken!" and the air separating them from Glory turned into a magical forcefield. The goddess ran right into it and fell backwards onto her ass.

Xander abruptly appeared in the open doorway with a broadsword. "Hey, guys, what's the holdup? I've got the Key in the car and I'm ready to—"

The human women glared at him as the goddess stood up, her eyes widening. "They Key? You brought it here? Oh, this is too delicious. It won't take me a minute to get out of here—and when I mean out of here, I mean out of this magic field, this sorry dump, this apartment, this town, this whole stupid mortal coil crap. I was going to tear all your throats out but now I don't even have to bother."

"Xander, you jackass," Buffy hissed. She carried Angel half on, half off, her shoulder, as the wiccans came after her.

They carried the wounded vampire away to the elevator as Xander stumbled after. "What? What did I do? I thought the plan was to get the vamp and the Key and hightail it out of town."

"And now she knows it, thanks to you," Buffy shot back without looking at him. "Willow, how long will that forcefield hold?"

The two wiccans glanced fearfully down the hallways as the elevator arrived. "Not long, maybe a coupla minutes or so. I can feel her punching at it. Buffy, she's really strong."

As the elevator arrived and they piled into it, Buffy dropped the act and turned to Xander. "You know, we may really have a chase on our hands. This is an apartment building, not an empty lair like I was expecting. We can't use the plan; we'd be killing innocent civilians."

"No…no one else." They all stared at the wobbling figure of the vampire. It was the first time since they found him that he'd actually spoken.

Buffy peered into his downturned face. "Angel? What do you mean, no one else?"

"The building's…empty. Glory…chased away the humans. Ate them…or something." The others grimaced as they recalled Glory's many brain-sucked victims.

"So no human lives to create a prob. Original plan. Or plan B. Whatever. Let's get going." The elevator stopped and they entered the lobby only to see a blur of movement rip past them. The door of the apartment complex blew outwards in a mini explosion of wood and glass fragments as the hellgod hit it, heedless of the damage. The others watched as several minions charged down the stairs after her and paused, glaring at the intruders.

"You do not insult Glory by escaping!" one yelled as if the very idea was a personal affront to their god.

Glory called from outside. "Forget them! They're unimportant! I want you to get your useless butts out here and help me with this thing."

The minions wavered and then bustled out the door past the humans and their vampire. Buffy, Willow, Tara and Xander watched as the minions hammered ineffectually at the lid of the car trunk. "Oh, for pete's sake!" Glory groused as she wrenched the trunk open herself. The lock popped open and she stared at the box hidden inside. She opened the box and lifted out the trollgod hammer Buffy had managed to wrest from Anya's ex-husband Olaf. "Wow. Mama like. Will you look at this. I can just feel the mystical energy humming off this baby."

She didn't notice as Willow and Tara softly chanted a teleportation spell and all the Scoobies disappeared from sight. She hefted the hammer and frowned. There were thin wires trailing from it to a device that had been hidden underneath. "Uh guys?"

"What is it, powerful, omnipotent…thou?" One of the minions babbled as Glory looked at the display with red numbers quickly ticking downwards.

"Why is this thing beeping?"

The three women, Xander and Angel collapsed on the front lawn of the Summers house as the spell faded. Xander recovered first and picked up Willow as Giles and Dawn came running out of the house. Giles cradled the still form of the other wiccan as he worriedly noted the blood oozing from her nose. "I take it by your arrival that the plan worked?"

"Well, we'll know soon enough. Riley said the explosives had the capacity to blow up a small—" He didn't get a chance to finish as they saw a massive ball of flame fly up into the night sky. For a moment it became as bright as day and a second later the sound of the boom hit them like a wave. "Yep. I'd say the plan worked," was Xander's offhand remark.

"Great," Willow mumbled. She was also hemorrhaging, although she was still conscious. Her head rolled bonelessly in Xander's arms as she tried to get her bearings. "Tara?"

"I've got her, Willow. She's safe. We all are…thanks to you." Giles gentle voice was low and reassuring as they carried her lover into the house. Willow wanted to say that she hadn't done it all, really. It had been Riley's and Xander's plan, their cunning. She and Tara had just provided muscle. Magic muscle. The last thought made her giggle foolishly before her head fell back against Xander's shoulder and, as the psychic backlash from the teleportation spell washed over her, she lost consciousness.

And that was the end of Glory. For the next few days, in between tending her wounded boyfriend (who'd put up too much of a fuss to be kept in the hospital), seeing that Angel got an adequate supply of blood to heal his injuries and tending her grief-stricken little sister, Buffy relentlessly patrolled. She wanted to reassure herself that there was no trace of the mad Glory to reappear and attack at some unforeseen point in the future.

TBC


	5. Not Second Best

Giles had reassured her time and again that the mystical convergence of constellations, signs, portents and whatnot had passed, making it impossible for Glory to use the Key. But she had to go check Glory's former place of human residence to make certain. Seeing the gaping crater in the ground which had taken out the apartment building as well as the car (and how was she going to explain that to the insurance company?) greatly eased any lingering doubts she might have had.

Buffy finished her patrol in record time and squared her shoulders. She headed back to her home and once again silently patted herself on the back. She had decided it would have made things too tense at home to have Angel around. So she parked his bleeding carcass at his mansion on Crawford Street. She'd dropped in at Willy's and sweetly told him that Angelus was back in town. She pointed out how he might still be holding a grudge because of Willy turning him over to Spike and the bartender had immediately coughed up the good stuff—O positive, compliments of the house.

She had Xander deliver him the blood, however. There was nothing left to say between the two of them and she wanted to keep it that way. Now she wanted to get back to her boyfriend—her real boyfriend. She quietly opened the house door and called out, "Dawn? Riley? Anybody home?"

Riley jogged down the stairs and smiled uncertainly at her. As soon as she recovered her strength, Willow had performed a healing spell on him. The only thing left from his run-in with the Knight of Byzantium was a thin silvery scar on his abdomen. Still, Buffy had adamantly refused to allow him with her on patrol until she was sure he was completely out of the woods.

"Hey, Buffy."

"Hey, lover."

Riley blinked at the statement. She'd never before graced him with that title before. It was unexpectedly sweet hearing her do so now. "How was patrol? Any major demons?"

"Just about the same. For awhile I was running into demons trying to avoid the end of the world as we know it or demons trying to cash in on all the mayhem. With Glory gone and things back to normal—well, as normal as it ever gets around here—the monster world is pretty quiet."

He walked over to her and hugged her. He was surprised when she hugged him back and kissed him fiercely. When she backed off and he could breathe again, he gasped out, "Wow. What was that for?"

"You. Just for being you."

"Oh." Strangely, the words didn't entirely dispel his uncertainty and he struggled against the feeling. Buffy was with him now. After getting Angel away from Glory and seeing to his comfort, she'd refused to go near the vampire again.

It had hurt Riley to know that she'd met him in the cemetery after her mother had been buried. But she had assured him repeatedly that her love for Angel was a thing of the past. Some part of her would always belong to him; he was a first love and nobody ever forgot that completely. She had appreciated his company as that of a good friend doing a kind service. But that was all.

Buffy could sense his hesitancy. Now that she was actually focused on her boyfriend, she found it remarkably easy to pick up on his emotions. Guess I wasn't really paying attention before. That's going to change.

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, this time making it slow and tender, drawing it out. He pulled back once more and let his lips trace a path across her chin, cheek and forehead before returning to her mouth again. "Buffy."

"Hmmm, what?"

"I want…I mean, I feel much stronger now. My stomach doesn't hurt. Do you think we could…?"

She grinned at his fumbling words. In spite of being a soldier for who-knew-how-many years, he could be as delicate as a virgin when discussing sex with her. She found she liked that. Buffy tilted her head and let out a regretful sigh. "I don't know, Riley. With Dawn in the house…"

"It's okay. I'm not in any hurry." As he began to pull away, she pulled him back and eyed him speculatively.

"What?" 

She ran a hand lightly down the front of his T-shirt. "We could always go to the basement. There's a cot down there. It's not the most comfortable place but we could make do."

His heart began to pound as he searched her face. Her look was so loving, more so than he'd seen in weeks. But he had to be certain this was what she wanted. "Are you sure, Buffy? If you think it's too soon after your mother's funeral, we could wait."

She reached up and cupped his face in both hands, staring into his shadowed eyes. There was such doubt in those depths and she knew she was partially responsible for it. "I'm sure mom wouldn't mind. She really liked you, Riley. You were the decent guy every mom hopes her daughter will get. And she was right about you.

"But what I feel for you has nothing to do with what she wanted for me or even my friends. I thought about you when Angel was with me at the cemetery. When I looked at him, I saw what attracted me to him in the first place. He was mysterious, dark, tortured, forbidden and good-looking—the whole bad boy image in one great package. But I never really knew him. We didn't talk about his life or about my day. He was a kind of symbol for what a girl might want but can't have. There was just a little bit of the schoolgirl crush mixed up in what I felt for him.

"I'm not saying what I felt for him wasn't real or strong. It was; he was my first love and you don't get over those. But you do get past them. Time sorta put the whole Angel dealie in perspective. What I feel for you is deeper and, I think, better in the long run. It's not all wrapped up with danger and mystery. Angel was all about the grand gestures or the big moments—rushing in to save my life or things like my mother's funeral and that's fine. But love should be about the day-to-day business of living. Waking up with someone, being unashamed of having bedhair or morning breath, being comfortable with them and knowing they'll love you no matter how bad, rotten or stinky you get.

"That's what I've got with you. And that's how I feel about you. I remember kneeling over you and seeing that knife in your stomach. I could feel my heart literally stop in my chest. I didn't feel that when Angel came back—not even once. Even seeing him after he was tortured by Glory made me feel more irritated than anything else.

"What I'm trying to say is that—I loved him once. But I'm in love with you."

Riley hadn't said a word during this speech. He didn't think he was capable of speaking. He always got a tight squeezing sensation in his chest whenever Angel's name was mentioned. He wondered how someone who had made a woman so miserable could have such a hold over her. But Buffy had just said everything he'd ever wanted to hear. He didn't have the words to answer her.

Evidently his silences were still hard for her to interpret. She frowned at his pensive look and ran a finger over his wrinkled forehead. "Hey. Buffy to Riley. You in there, Riley? I don't want another broody boyfriend. What'd I say?"

"It-it's just you, Buffy. You're everything I ever wanted in a girlfriend. I was beginning to think you'd never feel the same about me."

Buffy raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. "That you're everything I'd ever want in a girlfriend? I've already got those, thanks."

He laughed at her little joke. She giggled back and then silence trailed away between them. Giving way to impulse, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her towards the basement door. She giggled again. "Ooh, my big strong hero. Going all caveman on me, are ya?"

He grunted and nuzzled her hair. "More like Tarzan. You Jane."

She smiled and flipped on the light so he could clearly see the stairs. "Actually, I was a cavegirl once, courtesy of some funky enchanted beer."

He paused at the bottom of the stairs and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Okay, that sounds like a story. Care to tell me about it?"

She leaned into his neck and nibbled at his throat. "Maybe later. Now where did I put that cot?"

Finis


End file.
